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THE 

GUIDE BOOK 

T O 

HISTORIC 
GERMANTOWN 

PREPARED FOR 

THE SITE & RELIC 

SOCIETY 

BY 

CHARLES F. JENKINS 

GERMANTOWN 
1902 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

"Thto Copifes Received 

JUN. 23 1902 

Copyright entry 

©fLASS (JyXXc No. 

COPY B. 



Copyright, 1902, by Site and Relic Society, Gcrmantown 



W. Seymour Runk^ 
Morris Llewellyn Cooke 
Francis Heyl, 



SITE AND RELIC SOCIETY 
GUIDE BOOK COMMITTEE. 
William H. Lambert, Chairman 



Guernsey Moore. 



William J. Campbell, 
James F. Fahnestock, Jr., 
Harold Peirce. 



Printed by Innes & Son?, rhilttJelpnir 






CONTENTS 



DM 



(j-^ Chronology of Germantown 7 

CO 

Preface 1 1 



Bibliography of Germantown 9 



How to Reach Germantown 14 

The Settlement of Germantown 17 

The Ancient Town 24 

Main Street of Germantown 29 

Excursion, East Side of Germantown 133 

Excursion, West Side of Germantown 144 

Short Account of Battle of Germantown 153 

Francis Daniel Pastorius 162 

Streets of Germantown 167 

Index 169 



LIST of ILLUSTRATIONS 



Chew House, 2 

Stenton, 1 9 

Wagner House, 25 

Thones Kunder's House, 31 

Wister House, 39 

Price Homestead. Ladies' Club House, Manheim, 47 

Germantown Academy, 55 

Carlton, 63 

Morris House, 71 

Picture of Market Square, 79 

Spencer House. Home of Thomas Godfrey, 85 

Green Tree Tavern, 91 

Wyck, 95 

Blair House, 10 1 

Mennonite Meeting House, 107 

Johnson House, 1 1 1 

Grave Stone in Upper Burying Ground, 117 

David Rittenhouse's Birthplace, 123 

Ship House, 129 

Hall of Chew^ House, 135 

Billmyer House, 141 

Parsonage of Dunkard Church, 149 

Old Doors of Chew^ House. 157 

George Hesser's House (Bayard House). 165 



m 



g C H RONOLOGY O F 
^ GERMANTOWN 



gg' 



August 
October 



i6, 1683, 
6, 1683, 



October 12, 1683, 



October 


24, 


1683, 


October 


25, 


1683, 
1683, 
1688, 
1690, 


May 


31, 


1691, 

1705, 

1707, 
1708, 


February 


17 


> 1719, 
1719, 


April 


8, 


1732, 
1743, 



Francis Daniel Pastorius reaches Philadelphia. 
Thirteen emigrants from Crefeld with their families 

reached Philadelphia. 
A Warrant was issued to Pastorius for land on behalf 

of the German town purchase. 
Thomas Fairman surveyed the land. 
Meeting in cave of Pastorius, where lots were drawn 

for the land and settlement was at once begun. 
First flour mill in Philadelphia County, erected near 

Germantown. 

Friends issue first public protest in America against 
human slavery. 

First paper mill in America erected in Germantown. 

Germantown incorporated. 

What is believed to be the first portrait in oil painted 
in America made in Germantown by Dr. Chris- 
topher Witt. 

Town looses its charter and is no longer incorporated. 

First Mennonite meeting house in America built in 
Germantown. 

Francis Daniel Pastorius died. 

Arrival in Germantown of the first body of Dunk- 

ards in America. 
David Rittenhouse born. 
First Bible in America, in an European language, 

printed in Germantown by Christopher Sauer. 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 



Germantown Academy founded. 

** Cliveden," the Chew House, built. 

Sauer began the publication of the first religious maga- 
zine in America. 

Invasion of Paxtang Boys. 

Dr. Christopher Witt died. 

First American book on Pedagogy published in Ger- 
mantown. 

First type ever cast in America made in Germantown. 

Washington's army encamped near Germantown. 

Washington's army returns to camp near Germantown. 

British army occupies Germantown. 

Battle of Germantown. 

British army leaves Germantown, moving into Phila- 
delphia. 

Yellow fever drives many citizens, President Wash- 
ington and members of his Cabinet from Phila- 
delphia to Germantown. 

Washington spends two months in Germantown to 
escape heat of summer. 

Yellow fever again fills Germantown with refugees 
fi-om Philadelphia 

Germantown Turnpike incorporated. 

Lafayette visits Germantown. 

Steam railroad to Germantown opened. 

Germantown ceases to be an independent borough and 
is made part of Philadelphia. 





1760, 




1761, 




1764, 




1764, 




1769, 




1770, 


1772- 


-1773, 


August 1-8, 


1777, 


Sept. 12-14, 


1777, 


September 25, 


1777, 


October 4, 


1777, 


October 1 9, 


1777, 



1793, 





1794, 




1798, 


February 


12, 1801, 


July 


20, 1825, 


June 


6, 1832, 




1854, 



A PARTIAL BIBLIOGRA- 
PHY OF GERMANTOWN 



n 



Those who may wish to learn more of the history of Ger- 
mantown and its vicinity are referred to the following works : 

**The Settlement of Germantown," by the Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker, 
published by W. J. Campbell, 189-. 

"Watson's Annals," Volume II, pages 16 to 72, and elsewhere. 

** Walks in Germantown," by Townsend Ward, published in the ** Pennsyl- 
vania Magazine of History and Biography," beginning Vol. V, No. i. 

*i Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill," by the Rev. S. F. Hotch- 
kin, published by P. W. Ziegler & Co., 1889. 

"History of Germantown Academy," edited by Horace W. Smith, pub- 
lished 1882. 

**The German Pietists of Pennsylvania, " by Julius F. Sachse, published 1895. 

**The German Sectarians of Pennsylvania," by Julius F. Sachse.* Two vol- 
umes. Volume I, published 1889, covers 1 708-1 742. Volume II, 
published 1900, covers 1 742-1 800. 

^*A History of the German Baptist Brethren (Dunkards), by Martin G. 
Brumbaugh, Ph.D. Brethren Publishing House, Elgin, 111., 1899, 

**The Old York Road and Its Early Associations," 1 670-1 870, by Mrs. 
Anne de B. Mears, published in Philadelphia, 1890, by Harper & Brother. 

* * A Century of Germantown Methodism, ' ' by Robert Thomas, published by 
** Germantown Independent," 1895. 

**The Battle of Germantown," by Dr. A. C. Lambdin, published in the 
** Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography," Vol. I, No. i. 

In addition to this there are other articles in the Pennsylva- 
nia Magazine relating to Germantown, reference to which may 
be had by consulting the indices of the various volumes. 



HISTORIC GERMANrOJVN 



The following genealogies relating to Germantown families 
contain some local historical information : 

*'The Shoemaker Family," by Thomas H. Shoemaker, Philadelphia, 1893. 

** History of the Bringhurst Family,'* by Josiah Granville Leach, Philadel- 
phia, 1 90 1. 

** Genealogy of the Fisher Family," by Anna Wharton Smith, Philadelphia, 
1896. 

** History of the Conard Family," by Henry C. Conrad, Wilmington, Del. 

*' Genealogy of the Roberdeau Family," by Roberdeau Buchanan, 1876. 

'* Christopher Sower and His Descendants," (chart), by Charles S. Sower, 
P887. 

" Genea- Biographical History of the Rittenhouse' Family," by Daniel K. Cas- 
sel, 1897. 

**The Levering Family," by Colonel John Levering, 1897. (Wigard Lev- 
ering, the immigrant, settled first in Germantown but removed to Rox- 
borough ) . 

**The Keyser Family," compiled by Charles S. Keyser, 1889. 

** History of the Cassel Family," by Daniel K. Cassel, 1896. 

<*Kulp Family History," by Daniel K. Cassel, 1895. 

The following works of fiction have more or less connection 
with Germantown : 

" Pembertonj or, A Hundred Years Ago." 

<< Hugh Wynne," bv Dr. S. Weir Mitchell. 

" The Legends of the American Revolution, 1776," by George Lippard. 

** Washington and His Men," by George Lippard. 

"The Passing of Thomas," by Thomas A. Janvier. 



10 



PREFACE 




FEW towns or cities of our country possess the historical 
associations of Colonial and Revolutionary times that attach 
to our suburb of Germantown. Its conception and settlement, 
the nationality and character of its early settlers, its archi- 
tecture, its industrial life and enterprise (for it was the cradle of 
some of our greatest industries)^ all early gave it marked indi- 
viduality. It was the threshold over which entered the great 
German immigration which brought many modifications in lan- 
guage, manners and religion to the commonwealth and nation. 
Germantown was the scene of a fierce conflict which had con- 
siderable influence on the destiny of the infant nation. It was 
the home, on two occasions, of the President of the United 
States and members of his cabinet, making it, to that extent, the 
seat of Government of the country. All these incidents and more 
make it an important spot in our country's history and growth. 
Fortunately during the period which brought so many changes, 
and obliterated so many of the historical landmarks in all our old 
cities, Germantown slumbered quietly, off from the path of so- 
called progress and improvement and there are, consequently, 
left in it many landmarks of the last century. 

II 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

A complete history of Germantown is yet to be written. 
In no no one place can be found a full and consecutive account 
of the settlement, rise and progress of the town. Hon. Samuel 
W. Pennypacker, in his ^^ Settlement of Germantown," has 
covered with great thoroughness the causes which led to the 
German imigration and the settlement itself; Mr. Julius F. 
Sachse in his several histories of the German sects makes unnec- 
essary any further research in this direction ; the Rev. S. F. 
Hotchkin, in his ^^ Germantown and Chestnut Hill," has 
brought together much valuable local information ; Townsend 
Ward in his '* Walks in Germantown," published in the Penn- 
sylvania Magazine, Volumes V and VI, gives a wealth of local 
incident and tradition, but unfortunately he died before his labors 
were completed, his walks extending only to near the centre of 
the town. In ** Watson's Annals" are many incidents of 
local history. Dr. Alfred C. Lambdin, in his admirable address 
on the ^^ One Hundreth Anniversary of the Battle of German- 
town," gives a full and comprehensive account of this important 
incident in the town's history, and in many other places are to 
be found scraps of historical material, but no one has as yet 
brought all together in a complete and harmonious whole. 

This little book is not a history of Germantown. Its aim 
is to present in as brief a way as possible the main historic facts 
connected with the town and to arrange these facts in such a 

12 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

way that the sightseer may have no trouble in finding and iden- 
tifying each particular site. 

The thanks and indebtedness of the Society are due to Mr. 
Thomas H. Shoemaker, whose unequalled store of information 
and collection of photographs and prints of ancient Germantown 
has been largely drawn upon. Also to the Rev. Francis Heyl, 
to whose care was committed a portion of the work of writing ; 
to Dr. Naaman H. Keyser, a life-long student of the town's 
history, whose collections of material have been freely placed at 
the disposal of the writer, and to General Louis Wagner, Mr. 
Francis Howard Williams, and Miss Anne H. Cresson for val- 
uable information. 



13 



HOW TOREACH 
GERMANTOWN 



GERMANTOWN is reached by steam cars via the 
Pennsylvania Railroad from Broad Street Station and 
the Philadelphia and Reading Road from the Reading Terminal. 
The former road skirts the v^est of the town and the latter the 
east. On the Pennsylvania Railroad, Queen Lane Station is 
near the Manheim cricket grounds and makes a good starting point 
to visit the places discovered in the chapter, page 144. Chelten 
Avenue Station is near the centre of the town and nearest the 
Rittenhouse House and site of the first paper mill, while Upsal 
Station is nearest the Chew House. Wayne Junction Station, 
on the Reading Road, is located at the extreme lower end of the 
Main Street of Germantown and is a very good starting point 
for a sight-seeing tour. Chelten Avenue Station on the Read- 
ing Road will bring the tourist near the centre of the town. 
Germantown may also be reached by the trolley cars on 
Eighth Street (take cars marked Chestnut Hill or German- 
town) and by the Germantown trolley on Thirteenth Street. 
The *^ Germantown " and ^* Chestnut Hill " cars on Eighth 
Street traverse the Main Street, or the old and historic portion 
of the town, while the Thirteenth Street cars traverse Wayne 

14 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Street (which is two long squares west of the Main Street) 
passing through the modern residence section. The trip out by 
trolley takes from fifty minutes to an hour. Fare, 5 cents. 

The Reading Railroad to Germantown was the first rail- 
road operated in Philadelphia. In 1827 Edward H. Bonsall 
and Joseph Leibert visited Mauch Chunk to see the great 
marvel, the gravity road. On their return they proceeded to 
awaken public interest in a railroad to Germantown. A charter 
was obtained and so eager were the public to invest that for 
every ^\^ shares subscribed three were allotted. John G. 
Watmough was elected President and Edward H. Bonsall, 
Treasurer. 

The road was opened June 6th, 1832. The cars made six 
trips a day, drawn by horses. November 23d, following, the 
first locomotive, '^ Old Ironsides," probably the first made in 
the United States, made by Matthias W. Baldwin, the founder 
of the Baldwin locomotive works, was placed on the road. 
Crowds assembled at 9th and Green Streets, the Philadelphia 
Commons, to see the train pass. Farmers came long distances 
to see its arrival in Germantown. Almost every one is now 
familiar with the notice which stated that when it rained horses 
would draw the train, as the engine was not taken out in the 
wet. For an illustration and short account of ** Old Ironsides " 
see Pennsylvania Magazine, Vol. XI, p. 80. 

15 



From the Latin of Francis Daniel Pastorius in the German- 
town Records. 1688. 

Hail to posterity! 
Hail, future men of Germanoplis! 
Let the young generations yet to be 

Look kindly upon this. 
Think how your fathers left their native land, — 
Dear German-land! O sacred hearths and homes! — 
And, where the wild beast roams. 
In patience planned 
New forrest-homes beyond the mighty sea. 

Then undisturbed and free 

To live as brothers of one family. 

What pains and cares befell. 

What trials and what fears. 
Remember, and wherein we have done well 
Follow our footsteps, men of coming years! 
Where we have failed to do 
Aright, or wisely live. 
Be warned by us, the better way pursue. 
And, knowing we were human, even as you. 
Pity us and forgive! 
Farewell, Posterity! 
Farewell, dear Germany! 
Forevermore farewell! 

John G. Whittier. 



HISTORIC 
GERMANTOWN 

THE SETTLEMENT 
OF GERMANTOWN 

THE first settlers of Germantown came from the country 
of the lower Rhine, not far from the borders of 
Holland. The purchase of land was made through 
the Frankfort Company, of which Francis Daniel Pastorius 
was the agent in America for a number of years. 

In 1683 thirteen families, including in all thirty-three 
persons, set out from Crefeld, their native town, for London, 
where passage had been engaged for them to Pennsylvania in 
the ship Concord, by James Claypole, a Quaker merchant of 
that city, who was to be their fellow passenger. On the 24th 
of July they sailed from London, and arrived in Philadelphia 
the 6th of October. They were met on landing by Pastorius 
who had preceded them a few weeks. On the 24th of 
October Thomas Fairman, the surveyor of the Province, laid 
out their land in the township, afterwards called Germantown, 
and on the next day the immigrants met in the cave of Pastorius 
on the bank of the Delaware and made selections of the plots 

17 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

of land by lot. Having done this, they proceeded at once to 
clear their land and erect dwellings before the winter should 
overtake them. 

The following are the names of the thirteen settlers : 

Abraham Op den Graeff, Thones Kunders, 

Herman Op den Graeff, Reynier Tyson, 

Lenart Arets, Jan Lucken, 

Jan Seimens, Johannes Bleikers, 

Willem Streypers, Peter Keurlis, 

Jan Lensen, Abraham Tunes. 
Dirck Op den Graeff, 

They were all Friends or Mennonites, but just how 
they were divided between these two bodies is not known. 
Before their departure from Germany there had been a Friends' 
Monthly Meeting held at Crefeld, which was discontinued im- 
mediately after their departure, indicating that all or nearly all 
the ftill body of members had gone. By 1690 when the vil- 
lage of Germantown had grown to forty-four families, twenty- 
eight of them were Friends and the other sixteen of other re- 
ligious faiths. 

The next year (1684) other immigrants arrived and there- 
after a steady flow of settlers from Germany and the Rhine 
provinces came to Pennsylvania, the majority passing through 

18 




•9 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Germantown. Many remained in the town, among them the 
ancestors of some of our present day families, — the Keysers, 
Shoemakers, Johnsons, Rittenhouses, Leverings, Sauers, etc. 
Germantown was the threshold over which entered the new 
country the various German sects, the Dunkards, Lutherans, 
Swenkfelders, etc., now occupying the southeastern portion of 
Pennsylvania. 

On the 13th of February, 1694, a number of Pietists, origi- 
nally from Germany, embarked at London on the ship Sarah 
Maria for Pennsylvania. After many adventures the ship 
entered the Chesapeake and landed the immigrants in Maryland, 
whence they journeyed overland to Germantown. These men, 
with Johannes Kelpius, as their Superior, took up their residence 
on the Ridge, as the high land between the Wissahickon and 
Schuylkill is called. Here they built a tabernacle of logs. 
They spent their time mostly in seclusion, engaged in religious 
devotion, in the study of astronomy and the occult arts. These 
men gradually passed away, the Hermitage in Hermits' Lane, 
near the Wissahickon, being one of the few reminders of their 
existence. 

The early settlers brought with them the habits of industry 
and thrift: which characterize the German race. In addition to 
the cultivation of the soil, which was never their main de- 
pendence, they brought various trades with them. Many 

21 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 

were linen weavers. In 1686 Abraham Op den Greaff pe- 
titioned the Council to grant him the Governor's premium for 
**The first and finest piece of linen cloth," and as early as 
1692 Richard Fraeme wrote : 

**The Germantown of which I spoke before 
Which is at least in length one mile or more. 
Where lives High German people and Low Dutch 
Whose trade in weaving cloth is much, — 
Here grows the Flax as also you may know 
That from the same they do divide the tow. ' ' 

Later the manufacture of stockings from the famous Ger- 
mantown wool was begun and by 1760 the Rev. Andrew 
Burnaby writes : — *^The Germantown thread stockings are in 
high estimation and the year before last I have been credibly in- 
formed there were manufactured in that town alone above 
60,000 dozen pairs, their common retail price a dollar per pair.*' 

** The earliest settlers used to make good linens and vend 
them in Philadelphia. They were also distinguished, even till 
modem times, for their fabric of Germantown stockings. This 
fact induced the Bank of Germantown to adopt a seal, with 
such a loom upon it. The linen sellers and weavers used to 
stand with the goods for sale on the edge of the pavement in 
Market Street, on the north side, near to Second street comer. 
The cheapness of imported stockings is now ruining their 
business. ' ' — Watson* s Annals, 

zz 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

The Borough of Germantown. early adopted a label to mark 
their goods so that their excellent quality would be more easily 
recognized. 

About this time the tanning industry had assumed consider- 
able importance, as the following letter from John Morgan, Jr., 
dated at Reading, Pa., December 23, 1777, while Philadelphia 
was occupied by the British Army, shows : 

*^ I understand that all the stocking weavers at Germantown 
with their looms and out of work supposed to be one hundred, 
also six or seven tanners who have large tan yards foil of 
leather^ part of which is nearly tanned ; they might easily be 
removed. 

Query : — Are they not objects worthy of notice of Council ? 
Should the enemy determine to stay or leave Philadelphia this 
winter they will probably destroy them which would be a great 
loss to this State." 

As has been pointed out elsewhere, the manufacture of 
paper was first begun in Germantown in 1690. 

This pre-eminence in manufacturing, first encouraged by the 
character and skill of the early settlers and carried on by them 
in their homes, has continued to the present time, as the great 
number of factories and important manufacturing plants in the 
neighborhood testify. 



23 



HISTORIC GERMANtOJVN 



THE ANCIENT TOWN 




FOR many years Germantown consisted of a long, straggling 
village extending for nearly two miles along the Main 
Street. The appearance of the town was thoroughly German and 
continued so down through the period of the Revolution. The 
language of conversation among the inhabitants was mainly in 
German, until even a later period. The prevalence of yellow 
fever in Philadelphia in 1793 and again in later years caused 
many Philadelphians to take up their residence in Germantown, 
which made many changes in the language and customs of the 
town. 

As originally laid out there were to be four distinct villages 
along the Main road, all within the limits of what is now Ger- 
mantown. 

Roughly their boundaries were : Germantown from the 
present Wayne Junction to the Abington Road, now Washing- 
ton Lane, Cresheim from this point to about the Mermaid 
Tavern, Sommerhausen to about one-eighth of a mile above 
Chestnut Hill and Crefeldt to Streeper's Mill, which was where 
the turnpike crosses the Wissahickon at the foot of Chestnut Hill. 

24 




25 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

In later years the settlement above Upsal Street, surround- 
ing the Dunkard Church, was called Beggarstown, for the 
origin of which name there are several theories. This name 
has, however, passed entirely away, but in the dispatches and 
descriptions of the Battle of Germantown, it is frequently 
used. 

The early homes of the settlers were first of logs and later 
of the rough, dark, native stone. Built with their gables in the 
road they had over-hanging hipped roofs and a projecting pent 
over the doorstep, as is still seen in the Engle house. No. 5938 
Main Street ; the door was divided in the middle to keep out 
stray animals, but with the upper portion open to admit air and 
light ; on either side of the front door were little benches ; the 
windows were small, usually swinging on hinges. 

The sombre coloring of the houses, the solidity and air of 
comfort and thrift surrounding them, the rows of trees along 
the streets, the orchards and spacious farm buildings in the 
rear, are mentioned as prominent characteristics by many of the 
early travelers who have described the village. 

As the tracts of land along the Main street were sold and 
divided up they usually retained their full depth so that the 
owners might have their wood and pasture lots in the rear with 
the house on the Main street. As more land was sold, 
these strips became still more narrow, so that at the time of 

27 



HISTORIC GERMANIOWN 

the Revolution it was over and through these dividing w^alls and 
fences that the divisions of the American Army w^ere compelled 
to advance, greatly retarding their progress and affording pro- 
tection to the retreating British. 

At the centre of the town was the market place and at the 
upper and lower ends were the two public burial grounds. On 
the east were several mills run by the waters of the Wingo- 
hocking, then a considerable stream, and on the west were even 
a greater number scattered along the Wissahickon. The cross 
roads of the town connected it with these mills and the ferry 
over the Schuylkill. The Abington Road, now Washington 
Lane, led to Abington Meeting. It was many years before 
any streets parallel with the Main street were opened. 

About the middle of the eighteenth century, owing to the 
increase in wealth in Pennsylvania and particularly in German- 
town and the coming to the town of wealthy Philadelphians 
who made their summer homes here, larger and better houses 
were built, of which the Dirck Keyser house. No. 6205 Main 
Street, is an example. There are yet many of these well built 
houses remaining and it is to arouse public sentiment to an ap- 
preciation of their artistic beauty, that they may be spared for 
many years as monuments of the early architecture, that the Site 
and Relic Society of Germantown has been formed. 



28 



HISTORIC GERMJNTOfFN 




GERMANTOWN Avenue, Germantown Road, or the 
' Great Road, as it was anciently called, is said to follow 
what was an old Indian trail. It is still quite crooked although it 
has been straightened some. As late as 1777, the year of the 
Battle, there were less than six cross roads. It therefore fol- 
lows that what is of most historic interest is centered in the 
buildings along the Main Street, those on the cross streets being 
comparatively modern. But outlying at some distance, both on 
the east and west, there are historic points which come within 
the compass of what is now Germantown. It is proposed, 
as a matter of convenience, to take the visitor along the Main 
Street with very short side trips from it and then refer to the 
historic sites on each side of the town which can best be visited 
in separate expeditions. 

Years ago the Germantown Road was called the worst road 
in the United States. The soil was of such a nature that in 
summer it was ground to fine, choking dust, while in winter 
and spring it was almost impassable on account of the mud for 
wheeled vehicles. The story is told of a gentleman who was 



29 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

building a house on the other side of the road from his home, 
and saddled his horse to ride across in safety. In 1 800-1 the 
road was macadamized, forming part of the Germantown and 
Perkiomen Turnpike. The old toll house stood at Rittenhouse 
Street. Some of the mile stones erected by the Turnpike 
Company are still standing, one being at the corner of Main 
Street and Cliveden Avenue. 

*' Another great era of public benefit, now but little con- 
sidered, was the formation of the Germantown turnpike — a 
measure got up chiefly through the exertions of Casper Haines. 
The common road through Germantown, before this time, at 
the breaking up of the winter, as well as at some other times, 
was impassable for wheel carriages. To that cause it was that 
most of the marketing, going through the place to Philadelphia, 
was all carried on horseback with side panniers and hampers, 
and the most of the horses were ridden by women. Think 
what a relief they have had since those days! It is a well 
known fact that horses and carriages have been swamped and 
lost! In going through the town, (now all well paved), their 
horses would enter the mud to their knees at every step, and not 
being able to progress faster than two or three miles an hour, 
and then often endangered. Now what a change do we wit- 
ness! No men or women now on horseback with marketing, 
but going with easy spring dearborns at ^\^ and six miles an 
hour, as easy and safe as if in state carriages. Even wagon 
loads of hay can be seen sometimes passing in a trot ! ' ' 

— Watson* s Annals, 

30 




Thoncs Kundcr's House, 5109 Main Street 



3J 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Starting at Wayne Junction, which we may well consider 
the southern boundry of the town, we should first make a short 
excursion to Stent on, four or five squares distant. The Penn- 
sylvania Society of Colonial Dames has erected a sign post 
under the railroad bridge and one at each corner until Stenton is 
reached. The property is now in their charge and open at any 
time on application to the caretaker, but the best time to visit it 
is Saturday afternoons during May and June, and again in 
October, when the building is open and tea is served by the ladies 
of the Society to their guests. The house is partially fiirnished. 
The admission fee is 1 5 cents. 

Stenton was erected by James Logan, for many years 
William Penn's able and faithful secretary, in 1727-34. The 
house is 55 feet front by 42 feet deep, with servants' quarters 
attached at the rear. From the cellar is an underground passage- 
way leading to the stables, and some say, to the family 
burial ground beyond. 

Stenton was occupied by General Washington on the 
evening of August 23, 1777, when the American Army was 
on its way to oppose Howe at Brandywine, and General 
Howe was quartered here later at the time of the Battle. 
Washington also dined with Dr. Logan, Sunday, July 8th, 
1787, when he was attending the Constitutional Convention in 
Philadelphia. 

33 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

During the winter of British occupation an order was issued 
to burn all the mansions between Germantown and Philadelphia 
and seventeen were consumed at one time. Stenton is said to 
have been saved by the ready wit of the old colored woman left 
in charge. The two British dragoons who came to burn it 
went to the barn to get some straw to start the flames. While 
they were gone a British officer rode up looking for deserters. 
The old woman, in answer to his question, said she had seen 
two men who looked like deserters and that they had just gone 
to the barn. Just then the soldiers returned and despite their 
indignant protests and explanations the officer seized them 
and marched them oiF to the provost guard. Stenton was 
saved for the time and the efforts to burn it were not 
repeated. 

iVi?/. 4^18 and 4520 Main Street is the old house of the 
Neglees. At the time of the Battle it was occupied by two 
sisters. As one of them was feeding the chickens she was 
startled by the noise of firearms. She quickly retired to the 
house and locked the windows and doors. After the battle two 
straggling *' Red Coats" entered the house and asked for some- 
thing to eat. When they left they took all they could carry 
with them. One of the soldiers asked '* Had the army gone 
down yet?" to which one of the sisters replied: *' Which 

34 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

army, the American or British ? ' ' This so angered the ques- 
tioner that he drew his bayonet, and, rushing toward her, 
would have injured her had not her sister interfered. After the 
war the sister first named married John Harshey, a Hessian, 
who was captured by Washington at Trenton and who settled 
in this country, becoming a valued citizen. 

The hill which starts at this point has been called Logan's 
Hill, but the common name is Neglee's Hill, from the Neglee 
family whose house appears nearby on a map of 1750. 

The large house standing out on the brow of the hill, north- 
west corner of Apsley and Main Streets, was built in 1801 by 
Thomas Armat for his son. It is called '* Loudoun" from 
that fact that Thomas Armat first settled in Loudoun County, 
Va. At the time of the Battle the wounded Americans were 
carried to the top of the hill on which the house stands, and 
later removed in wagons to the city. It is said many of the 
dead were buried here. The house is now occupied by the 
Logan family, descendants alike of James Logan, of Stenton, and 
Thomas Armat. 

No, 4810 Main Street, is the Toland house, built about 
1 740. At the time of the Battle the house was the home of 
George Miller, an officer in the American army. On the night 

35 



HISTORIC GERMANrOWN 

of the arrival of the British army in Germantown more than a 
dozen officers were quartered here. Jacob Miller, the son of 
George, related in later life his experience with them. Among 
other incidents one of the officers was taken ill, and Jacob, armed 
with a pass, was sent for assistance. At every little distance 
along the road he was challenged by a sentinel, but he got what 
was wanted and returned in safety. Jacob's mother was set to 
work baking bread for the officers. She was required to re- 
turn in weight an amount equal to the flour she received, and 
as loo pounds of flour will make about 130 pounds of bread, 
she had considerable flour left: to pay her for her trouble. 

No. 4817 Main Street has been called the Mehl house for 
the family that occupied it a hundred years ago. Some soldiers 
killed in the Battle are said to have been buried at the gateway. 

No. 482^, the Ottinger house, was built in 1781 by Chris- 
topher Ottinger, a soldier of the Pennsylvania line, who vol- 
unteered at the age of 1 7 . The walls are two feet thick, even 
the partition on the first floor being of stone. The rafters of 
the rear building are of unhewn trees. 

Captain Douglas Ottinger, son of the above, the inventor of 
the Ottinger life car, was born here December iith, 1804. 
In 1849 ^^ equipped eight life-saving stations on the New Jersey 

36 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

coast with complete and effective life-saving apparatus. He w^as 
a captain in the U. S. Revenue Marine. 

No. 4840 Main Street^ called the Wagner house, w^as used 
as one of the main hospitals after the Battle. The big w^ooden 
doors of the stable in the rear v^ere taken from their hinges and 
arranged as operating tables. The house belonged to Samuel 
Mechlin and his family, w^ho left Germantown on the arrival of 
the British army. Mechlin w^as a tanner and everything of 
value about the house w^as seized, including a quantity of hides 
which were afterward recovered. The floors still show the 
blood stains of the wounded. Many died here and were bur- 
ied in a trench in the rear. Seventy years ago some workmen 
in digging a post hole unearthed a number of relics which evi- 
dently had belonged to Hessian soldiers. The house was built 
in 1747. 

No. 4go8 Main Street is called the Henry house, having 
been in possession of that family for many years. The oldest 
portion was erected in 1760, but additions were made later. 
In 1828 it was bought by John S. Henry, the father of Alex- 
ander Henry, three times mayor of the city and member of 
Congress. The latter passed here the greater portion of his 
youth. 

37 



HISTORIC GERMANrOJVN 

Opposite the Henry house, occupying the northeast corner 
of East Logan Street and Main Street, is the Lower German- 
town Burial Ground, sometimes called Hood's Burying Ground. 
Here are the remains of many of the early families of German- 
town and their descendants. Note the quaint old gravestone 
built in the corner of the wall with its inscription, *^ Memendo 
Mory " and symbolic cross-bones. Also the stone some thirty 
feet from Main Street and ten from the north wall, erected by 
John F. Watson, the annalist, over the gaves of General Agnew 
and Colonel Bird, British officers, killed at the Battle of Ger- 
mantown. Near the front gateway is the grave of Christian 
Frederick Post, a noted Moravian missionary to the Indians. 
The oldest stone in the yard is that of Joseph Coulston, 1707—8. 
Note also the stone with the inscription : 

** He was noble hearted & amiable & 
Intelligent, having been awarded 
A silver goblet for a literary 
Production at the age of 18.'* 

The marble wall at the front was erected with money left 
for the purpose by WiUiam Hood, a resident of Germantown, 
who accumulated wealth and died in Paris in 1850. 

The graveyard was presented to the borough of German- 
town in 1693 by Jan Streepers. 

38 




39 



HISTORIC GERMANTOPFN 

No, ^lOQ Main Street occupies the site of Thones Kunder's 
home, one of the original settlers of Germantown, and, so far 
as we know, the only house of an original immigrant that can 
be accurately located. Notice the north wall of the building ; 
while it has all been plastered over you will observe that a por- 
tion of it, about ten feet high and extending back, is of a differ- 
ent shade from the remainder of the wall. It is thought that 
this is the old wall of Thones Kunder's original dwelling, and 
it is said, in the many plasterings the house has had, they 
have never been able to get the old portion and the new to be 
exactly the same shade. 

The first meetings of the Society of Friends in Germantown 
were held at this house, and it was from the members of this 
little meeting that a public protest against slavery was issued as 
early as 1688. The paper was written by Pastorius, signed 
by him and three others, and, being appropriately referred to 
their monthly and quarterly meetings, it was forwarded to and 
weightily considered in the yearly meeting held at Burlington. 

Thones Kunders was a dyer by trade. His death occured 
in the fall of 1729. He was the ancestor of the Conard and 
Conrad families. Among his descendants is included Sir Samuel 
Cunard, the founder of the Cunard Steamship Line. 

One square west, on the south side of Manheim Street, at 

41 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 

the southwest corner of Manheim and Portico Streets, is the 
house once owned by Jacques Marie Roset, born in France in 
1765, who came to this country 1792. While passing up 
Chestnut Street on his arrival, with several of his countrymen, 
they met General Washington, who, recognizing them as French- 
men, saluted them in French, *^ Bien vien en Amerique," 
an incident which Roset remembered with pleasure during his 
life. He died in his 80th year and is buried in the Lutheran 
ground. A daughter of his oldest son, Mr. John Roset, mar- 
ried the late Anthony J. Drexel. Notice the stone on the 
Spring Alley side of the house ; also the one in front naming the 
street Manheim Square. Mr. Roset lived on the opposte side 
of the street. It was he who first introduced the tomato plant 
into Germantown. 

Somewhat farther out. No, i^j Manheim street, is White 
Cottage, the home of the Betton family. Dr. Samuel Betton 
married a daughter of Colonel Thomas Forrest. Immediately 
opposite the house in Revolutionary times was Taggart's field, 
where the British infantry were hutted. 

No, 5106 Main Street was occupied by Commodore James 
Barron in 1842, when in command of the Philadelphia Navy 
Yard. It was he who was in command of the Chesapeake when 

42 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

she was fired upon by the British ship Leopard, June 23 rd, 1807, 
and who killed Stephen Decatur in a duel in the famous duelling 
ground at Bladensburg, Md., March 23, 1820. 

The giant buttonwood tree, on the west side of Main street 
above Manheim, stood in front of what early in the last century 
was the Buttonwood Tavern, which succeeded '*Ye Roebuck 
Inn," which was its name in Revolutionary times. There were 
two of these trees standing side by side. George Heft bought 
the property in 18 19. The old inn was torn down to make 
way for the present house. The property is still in possession 
of the Heft family. 

No, 2 151 Main Street was the home of Philip R. Freas, 
who in 1830 started the Village Telegraphy later the German- 
town Telegraphy for many years one of the most influential papers 
in the country adjacent to Philadelphia. When the Native 
American riots broke out in Philadelphia in 1 844 the Telegraph 
was the only paper in Philadelphia which fearlessly upheld 
Sheriff Morton McMichael in his efforts to promptly subdue 
the riot. He edited the paper until 1885, when he retired. 
The little building next door was the newspaper office. In the 
rear of his home was a beautiful garden with rare trees and shrub- 
bery, but this has now made way for rows of dwelling 
houses. Philip R. Freas died April ist, 1886. 

43 



HISTORIC GERMAN'TOWN 

No, 5140 Main Street was occupied by Gilbert Stuart, 
the famous painter, 1794-5. While living in Philadelphia his 
daughter says : ^* My father at this time was so inundated with 
visitors, he found it impossible to attend to his profession." 
He consequently removed to Germantown, occupying this 
house and fitting up a barn in the rear as his studio. 

The second story or barn floor was used as the studio 
proper, while the lower floor was used to mix paints, etc. For 
many years, indeed until the barn was destroyed by an in- 
cendiary fire, marks of paint were observable on the walls. A 
small portion of the walls of the bam remained after the fire 
and these were carefully preserved and covered with ivy until 
within a year or two, when they were removed. 

Here, on the authority of Gilbert Stuart's daughter, was 
painted the famous portrait of Washington, now in possession 
of the Athenasum of Boston. 

The story is told that when Washington visited the studio 
for his sittings he was in the habit of walking into the garden 
and eating fruit from an apple tree which was standing within 
a few years. 

On the authority of Watson here also was executed a full 
length portrait of Cornplanter the famous Indian chief. 

Nos, 5203 and 5205 Main Street^ formerly one dwelling 



HISTORIC GERMANTOIVN 

house, is now well on to a century old. At one time it was 
occupied by Dr. Theodore Ashmead and later by Dr. Betton. 
Here July 14, i860, was born Owen Wister, the distinguished 
story writer. His parents were Dr. Owen J. and Sarah Butler 
Wister, the latter a daughter of Pierce and Fanny Kemble 
Butler. The family were residing here temporarily while 
the house 5253 Main Street was being built by Dr. 
Wister. The Wisters continued living at 5253 Main Street 
until 1870, when they removed to Butler Place on the York 
Road. See reference to the latter in another chapter. 

St. Stephen's Methodist Church was opened in 1856. 
The story is told that it was then such a plain and unpre- 
tentious building that it was often mistaken for a factory. 
When in 1857 a new pastor came to take charge, bringing 
his family with him, his daughter on catching sight of the 
building, exclaimed, ** Oh! Papa, what factory is that?" 
**That, my daughter," he replied *Ms the factory I am going 
to work in." The present attractive building gives no indi- 
cation of its plain beginning. 

On this site stood the carpenter shop of Frederick Fraley. 
Tradition says that these shops were used for the manufacture 
of gim carriages for the American army and that they were 
burned by the British during the Revolution. Watson 

45 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

mentions that Washington was a frequent visitor at Fraley's car- 
penter shops. In later years the latter was a drum maker. 

No, 5214 Main Street has been called the Hacker house, 
from the fact that for a long period it was occupied by Isaiah 
Hacker. It was at one time the home of David Hayfield 
Conyngham. It marks a position of the British Army's en- 
campment in Germantown, as the following paragraph will dis- 
close : 

** The main body of the British occupied ground nearly at 
right angles with the main street. The front line on the School- 
house Lane to the west, and the Church Lane (its opposite) to 
the east. The park was in the area, south of the market-house, 
and fronting the house of David Deshler (now S. B. Morris'), 
in which General Howe had his quarters. The second line 
formed a parallel, at about one-fourth of a mile in the rear, and 
flanking the road near the old six-mile stone, before the door of 
H. Conyngham, Esq." — Watson* s Annals, 

No, 521^ Main Street was owned from 1775 until his 
death in 1795 by John Bringhurst. He was a prominent 
citizen of Germantown and one of the founders of the Academy. 
He was among the first to engage in the building of the well- 
known ** Germantown " wagons. In 1780 he built a ** chari- 
ot " for General Washington, the price of which was ^210 in 

46 




47 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 

gold. Washington was particular that it have his '^ arms and 
crest properly disp'd of on the chariot." When Martha Wash- 
ington set out for Mount Vernon in June, 1780, she rode in the 
new vehicle. Bringhurst's '* Big House," southeast comer 
Main and Bringhurst Streets, now occupied by a store, is where 
Colonel Bird, one of the British officers wounded in the Battle, 
died, saying as he passed away : *^ Woman, pray for me. I 
leave a wife and four children in England." 

In 1760 John Bringhurst and his brother George conveyed 
the ground used by the school to the trustees of the German- 
town Academy. For many years John was one of the trustees. 

The house ^2^j Main Street occupies the site of what was 
Christopher Sauer's home and printing establishment. Christo- 
pher Sauer, his wife and their son Christopher reached German- 
town in 1724. Later they removed to Lancaster County, but 
father and son returned to Germantown ini73i. In 1738 he 
secured a printing outfit fi*om Germany and in 1739 he began 
to issue the first German newspaper in America. In 1743 he 
issued the first Bible in an European language printed in America. 
This was forty years before an English Bible was printed in the 
colonies. Subsequent editions were issued by Christopher Sauer, 
2d, in 1763 and 1776. Here also was printed in 1770 the 
first book in America on the subject of education. 

49 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Christopher Sauer, the father, died September 25th, 1758. 
The son had become a Bishop of the Dunkard Church in 1753, 
but continued printing until the Revolution, when, because he 
would not take the oath of allegiance to the State, his printing 
effects were seized and sold. He died August 26th, 1784, poor. 

The old house stood close to the street, with a building in 
the rear, where was the printing plant. The Sauers cast the 
first type made in America about the year 1772 or 1773. 

** As Printing Types are now made to a considerable de- 
gree of perfection by an ingenious Artist in Germantown ; it is 
recommended to the Printers to use such Types, in preference 
to any which may be hereafter imported. — Pennsylvania Ga- 
zettCy February z, Z775. 

The house and outbuildings were removed and replaced by 
the present dwelling about the year i860. 

Nos, 3242 and ^244 Main Street, now a store, was form- 
erly the Indian Queen, a noted tavern, which gave name to the 
street alongside. This was formerly Bowman's Lane, then 
Indian Queen Lane, and now Queen Street. It was about at 
this point the following incident occurred : 

'* The British, shortly after the Battle, concentrated in Phila- 
delphia and vicinity. Directly after they left Germantown a troop 
of American horsemen came through the town upon their rear, so 
closely that a British surgeon, who had just left dressing the 

50 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 



wounds of three American officers, prisoners in the widow Hess' 
house, was overtaken on foot in the street. When they were 
about to arrest him, W. FryhoiFer, who saw it, and knew the 
facts of the case, proclaimed his useful services, and he was told 
to walk to the city at his ease. In the meantime the three offi- 
cers were taken as prizes and thus unexpectedly liberated. The 
same troop, advancing a little further, encountered a Quaker- 
looking man in a chaise, who, in trepidation, made a short turn 
at Bowman's Lane and upset, and thus exposed a large basket- 
full of plate. He and his treasure were captured and ordered 
off to headquarters." — Watson^ s Annals, 

The Wister house. No. ^261 Main Street y was erected by 
John Wister in 1 744, and the property is now in possession of 
his great grandson, Mr. Charles J. Wister. The stones for the 
building were quarried from a hill in the rear of the property 
and the joists hewn from oaks in the Wister woods, a portion of 
which is still standing. It was so much larger than the average 
house of the time that it was known as Wister' s **big" house. 

During the fall of 1777 the house had been left in charge of 
a German servant, Justina. The family had gone to Penllyn, 
Montgomery County, to escape possible annoyance by the 
British army, and it was while here that Sally Wister, a daugh- 
ter of the house, wrote the ever charming Diary * giving 

* Sally Wister' s Journal will be found in Pennsylvania Magazine, Vols. 
IX and X ; also in Howard M. Jenkins' Historical Collections Relating to 
Gwynedd. 

51 



HISTORIC GERMANtOtFN 

vivid accounts of country life at that trying and exciting 
time. 

When the British entered Germantown the house w^as occu- 
pied by General James Agnew. On the morning of the Battle 
Justina was at work in the garden and as General Agnew 
rode away he advised her to seek a place of safety. Justina, 
however, worked away unmindful of the happenings around 
her, and it was not long before General Agnew was carried back 
to the house ** bleeding at every vein." He was laid on the 
floor in the northwest parlor. His blood still stains the floor 
boards, having resisted a century and more of spring and fall 
cleanings. General Agnew was buried with Colonel Bird in 
the Lower Burial Ground. 

No. 526"/ Main Street y while one of the oldest-looking 
houses along the Main Street, seems not to possess any par- 
ticular historical interest. Seventy-five years ago one Anthony 
Gilbert, a blacksmith who lived here, was noted for his great 
physical strength. He was known to write his name on a board 
fence with a piece of chalk with ^\^ fifty-six-pound weights 
hanging on his arm. 

The house No. ^JOO Main Street, now the parsonage of 
the Trinity Lutheran Church, was one of the Sauer properties. 
(See mention of the Sauers. ) The Sauers were accused of 

52 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

aiding the enemy, and Christopher Sauer, the elder, suffered 
many indignities at the hands of the American soldiers. 

There is a tradition that the type which was cast by the 
Sauers, the first to be cast in America in 1772— 1773, was 
made in the cellar of this building. 

"Nos, S^7S ^^^ 5^77 ^^^^^ Street was occupied by the 
Germantown National Bank from 1825 to 1868. The An- 
nalist, Watson, who was the cashier, is authority for the state- 
ment that this building had been at one time occupied by 
Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, and Edmund Randolph, 
Attorney General of the United States. 

The yellow fever prevailing in Philadelphia, and Congress 
being soon to meet, Jefferson proceeded to Germantown, arriv- 
ing there in company with President Washington, November 
1st, 1793. The next day he wrote to his friend, James 
Madison : 

*< According to present appearances this place cannot lodge a 
single person more. As a great favor I got a bed in the corner 
of the public room of a tavern ; and must continue till some of 
the Philadelphians make a vacancy by removing into the city. 
Then we must give him from 4 to 6 or 8 dollars a week for 
cuddies without a bed, and sometimes without a chair or table. 
There is not a single lodging house in the place (vacant ?)." 

53 



HlsrORIC GERMANTOIVN 

Jefferson no doubt was successfiil in finding a lodging in this 
house, for on November 17 th he again wrote to Madison : 

** I have got good lodging for Monroe and yourself; that is to 
say, a good room with a fire place and two beds, in a pleasant 
and convenient position, with a quiet family. They will break- 
fast you, but you must mess in a tavern ; there is a good one 
across the street. This is the way all must do, and all I think 
will not be able to get even half beds." 

About the first of December danger from the fever having 
abated Washington and the members of his cabinet moved into 
Philadelphia. 

East Penn Street used to be called Shoemaker's Lane for 
Shoemaker's big house which stood on the northeast corner of 
this and the Main Street. A short distance beyond the Read- 
ing Railway on the left hand side going out is the Rock House. 
Its origin is unknown, but it is said to be one of the oldest 
houses in Philadelphia. The low ground behind it at one time 
was called Mehl's meadow, and, with the Wingohocking Creek 
winding through it, it was a delightful spot. William Penn is 
said to have preached at one time from this elevation to the 
people assembled below him in the meadow. In this meadow 
before the Battle some of the British cavalry had their 
encampment. 

54 




55 



HISTORIC GERMANrOJVN 

St. Luke's Church, at northeast corner of Main and Coulter 
Streets, was the first Episcopal congregation organized in Ger- 
mantown ( 1 8 1 1 ) . The church then contained about twelve 
families in and about Germantown. The first building on the 
present site was erected in 1 8 1 8 and it has been enlarged and 
altered many times since. 

The Friends' Meeting (connected with Arch Street Yearly 
Meeting), occupies the grounds in the rear of the Linden hotel, 
northwest corner of Coulter and Main Streets. 

It has never been fully determined just how many of the first 
settlers of Germantown were members of the Society of Friends, 
but a meeting was established very soon after their arrival. 
It first met at the home of Thones Kunders, now 5109 Main 
Street, and at other private houses. Jacob Shoemaker early 
gave the meeting three square perches of land, and the pre- 
sumption is a log meeting house was erected on it. In 1693 he 
conveyed to the meeting ^hy acres, of which the three square 
perches was a portion, and on this lot in the present old grave- 
yard, along the Main Street, a stone meeting house was erected 
in 1705. This was replaced in 1812 by another building, 
which stood where the present school building stands, and this 
in turn was succeeded by the present building. The old stone 
has been placed in an adjoining committee building. 

57 



HISTORIC GERMANTOIVN 



*^ Philadelphia, ]\m^ ^. Yesterday forenoon in the Meet- 
ing House of the People called fakers at Germantown, died 
suddenly of an Apopletic Fit, Isaac Norris of Fairhill, Esq. ; 
who for a long time most worthily presided in the County Court 
of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas, Philadelphia, was a 
Member of Council upwards of 30 years and been often chosen 
one of the People's Representations in the Legislature of this 
Province, as he was in this Year for the County of Philadelphia, 
His great Abilities in the Discharge of his Duty in each of these 
Stations, made him to be justly esteemed one of the most con- 
iderable men in this Government." — American Weekly Mer- 
cury, June Sth, 173s ' 

In the Free Library, which is under the care of Friends of 
this meeting, will be found a photograph of the Protest against 
Slavery which has been referred to. (See 5109 Main Street). 

The Masonic Hall, No. 5425 Main Street, occupies the 
site of a building in which at one time A. Bronson Alcott lived, 
and here the distinguished authoress, Louisa M. Alcott, was 
born. Mr. Alcott came to Germantown to take charge of a 
school. The following letter to Colonel May, dated German- 
town, November 29th, 1832, gives the information in regard to 
the interesting event : 

** Dear Sir: — It is with great pleasure that I announce to 
you the birth of a second daughter. She was born at half past 
12 this morning, on my birthday (33) and is a very fine 

58 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 



healthful child, and has a fine foundation for health and energy 
of character. Abba, inclines to have her called Louisa May, a 
name to her full of every association connected with amiable 
benevolence and exalted worth. I hope its present possessor 
may rise to equal attainment and deserve a place in the esti- 
mation of Society. Yours, 

A. Bronson Alcott." 

The , family removed from Germantown when Louisa 
Alcott was about two years of age. 

No, 5430 Main Street was the home of Captain Albert 
Ashmead. His father, John Ashmead, lived next door above, 
5434. When the British army entered Germantown, Thursday 
morning, September 25th, 1777, little John Ashmead, then a 
boy of twelve, sat on the front stoop and saw them pass — 
tired and covered with dust. While the Battle was in progress 
he ran out into the street, but was captured and taken to the 
cellar of 'Squire Ferree's home, nearly opposite. After the 
Battle he sallied forth and recovered two cannon balls, one an 
English and the other American, which have remained in pos- 
session of the family since. 

Captain Albert Ashmead commanded a troop of country 
cavalry and escorted General Lafayette from Trenton to Phila- 
delphia, when the latter visited this country. 

William Ashmead, grandfather of Albert, was the first, soon 

59 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

after the Revolution, to manufacture the well known German- 
town wagons, his shop being in the rear of these houses, and the 
house. No. 5430, was used as a show room, the ceilings being 
made high particularly for this purpose. When Captain Albert 
Ashmead married, the house was altered to accommodate him. 

'* The first introduction of carriage building was somewhat 
curious. Mr. William Ashmead, a smith, observing the heavy 
build of the coaches of his day, and that they were mostly im- 
ported, if intended to be of a superior kind, bethought him to 
form an open-front light carriage, on his own plan. When it 
was done, it was admired by many, and was often called for by 
the wealthy who wished to travel to distances ; — among these 
was Mr. Bingham. They engaged it at a dollar a day, and it 
was in constant demand. At last, a gentleman from Maryland, 
who had seen it, came to the place to buy it. It was not for 
sale ; but he offered ;^i 20 for it, and took it. Then another and 
another was built, and orders were renewed upon Mr. Ash- 
mead. Soon, increased demand occurred ; and his son John 
being made a carriage maker, received numerous orders for many 
kinds of light carriages, and especially for phaetons. About the 
same time (the time of the Revolution and afterwards), Mr. 
Bringhurst, who was at the time a chaise maker, went largely 
into the making of carriages. Coaches and chariots were made 
for ;£200 and phaetons for ;^ioo. 

^^ The same William Ashmead, as a smith, had made him- 
self a plough with a wrought iron mould-board, which was 
found to be a great improvement ; and so much admired by Laf- 

60 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 



ayette, who saw its utility, that he purchased four of them for 
his La Grange farm in France. No patent was taken ; and in 
time some other person, following the hint, made the same 
thing of cast iron — such as is now in general use." — Watsori* s 
Annals, 

The Market Square, now occupied as an open park, was 
the centre of the activity of the town. There was originally an 
acre of ground reserved from the Frankfort Company's land, 
but it was not centrally located, and was subsequently sold, and 
at the same time, in 1703-4, the Bailiff's, etc., ^^ For the 
common good and to purchase a place nearer the now midst in 
the centre of said town," bought of James De La Plaine, a half 
acre representing the present Market Square. Here for many 
years and until recent times, was the market house. Here also 
was the engine house of the Fellowship Fire Engine Company, 
one of the three early volunteer companies of the town. For a 
complete account of this fire company see *' Pennsylvania Maga- 
zine of History," Vol. xviii, page 429. The fire company re- 
moved to Armat Street in 1850 and the little old engine house 
was removed to the rear of 164 School House Lane, were it 
still serves as a play house. 

Here also at one time was the prison, the stocks and the 
public scales. Delegations of Indians on their way to the city 
would stop in Germantown and were fed at the Market Square. 

61 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

A table often used for their dinner is still preserved by the 
Ashmeads. 

Here, February 6th, 1764, several hundred Paxtang boys 
from the banks of the Conestoga and Susquehanna, then the 
frontier, on their way to murder the peaceful Moravian Indians 
who had taken shelter in Philadelphia, were met by Benjamin 
Franklin, Benjamin Chew, Thomas Willing, Thomas Galloway 
and others and persuaded to return to their homes. Philadelphia 
had been thrown into a state of great excitement which must in 
a measure have been communicated to Germantown, for the 
Lutheran pastor in the city came out to Germantown to warn 
his people not to take part with the mob. 

The monument now occupying the square was erected in 
1883 by Germantown to her soldiers in the Civil War. The 
principal part of the monument is built of Quincy granite. The 
top block, on which the soldier stands, is a piece of granite from 
Devil's Den, Gettysburg. The soldier is cut from Westerly 
granite. The four mortars were used for coast defence during 
the Civil War. The two bronze cannon on wheels were taken 
from the United States arsenal by Southern sympathizers during 
the war but were subsequently recovered by Union troops. One of 
them has cut upon it a Confederate flag and the name of a Confed- 
erate officer who was killed while serving the gun. The enclosure 
is made of musket barrels and bayonets used during the war. 

62 




63 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

The broken cannon on the north side was part of the arma- 
ment of the British frigate Augusta, sunk by the American bat- 
teries while the vessel was attempting to reach Philadelphia dur- 
ing the Revolutionary War. The crown and British monogram 
** G. R." are on it. The muzzle was blown away by an 
American cannon ball. Some thirty years ago in removing ob- 
structions from the river channel the vessel was raised and this 
gun recovered. 

The shell on the south side was presented to the Con- 
federacy by some friends in England in connection with a bat- 
tery of Whitworth guns. 

The cannon on the east of the monument has been in Ger- 
mantown for many years and was used to fire salutes, etc. 

On the sides of the monument are found : 

Coat of Arms of the United States, with a quotation from 
one of Webster's speeches. 

Coat of Arms of Pennsylvania, with a quotation from Will- 
iam Penn's writings. 

Coat of Arms of the City of Philadelphia, with a quotation 
from the Gospel by Luke. 

A badge of the Grand Army of the Republic. 

The Memorial Tablets at the corners contain the names of 
Soldiers and Sailors serving for the Suppression of the Rebellion, 
and residents at the time of their enlistment in the 2 2d and 4 2d 

6s 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Wards, or who subsequent to this war moved into this territory 
and died there. 

Tablet i contains, in chronological and alphabetical order, 
the names of those who died or were killed during the years 
1861-65. 

Tablet 2 contains, in alphabetical order, the names of those 
who died after 1865 and before May 30, 1900. 

Tablet 3 the same, with the latter half of the alphabet, and 

Tablet 4 the names of those who died between May 30, 
1 900, and January i , 1 90 1 . 

No, S44^ Main Street^ the Morris house, opposite the 
square, was the residence of Washington during a portion of 
1793 and 1794. It was built in 1772-3 by David Deshler. 
*' As honest as David Deshler" is remembered of him. After 
the Battle Sir William Howe, who before the event had made 
his headquarters at Stenton, occupied this house. The house 
was later bought by Colonel Isaac Franks and by him leased to 
Washington who occupied it during the month of Novem- 
ber, 1793, when the yellow fever drove many of the in- 
habitants of the city to safe places. An item in Colonel Frank's 
cash account is of interest : ** Cash paid for cleaning my 
house and putting it in the same condition the President re- 
ceived it in, ;J^2.50." The total payment, including the rent, 

66 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

was ;gi3i.56, which covered Colonel Frank's traveling ex- 
penses to and from Bethlehem, the hire of hirniture and bedding 
for his own family, the loss of one flat iron, valued at one shill- 
ing, of one large fork, four plates, three ducks, four fowls, one 
bushel of potatoes and one hundred of hay. ' ' 

In the following year, 1794, Washington occupied it during 
the heated period of the summer from July 30th to September 
20th. Under date of September 24, 1794, the following entry 
occurs in his cash book : ^* Isaac Franks in Full for House rent 
&c. at Germantown pr rect, ;^ 2 01. 60." 

The house is about forty feet square, and it is said the front 
would have been wider had David Deshler not wanted to spare 
a plum tree which stood at the side. The yard at the side 
and rear has been kept in the simple elegance of the colonial 
time and is altogether a charming spot. 



** General Washington while residing here in 1793 was 2 
frequent walker abroad up the Main Street, and daily rode out 
on horseback, or in his phaeton. So that everybody here was 
familiar with the personal appearance of that eminent man. 
When he and his family attended the English preaching, in the 
Dutch Church, at the market house, they always occupied the 
seat fronting the pulpit. It was also his own practice to attend 
the German preaching, thus showing he had some knowledge of 
that language. His home was closed on the Sabbath, until the 

67 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 



bell tolled, when it was opened just as he was seen coming to 
the church. . . . 

^^ Many remember his very civil and courteous demeanor to 
all classes in the town, as he occasionally had intercourse with 
them. He had been seen several times at Henry Fraley's car- 
penter shop, and at Bringhurst's blacksmith shop, talking freely 
and cordially with both. They had both been in some of his 
campaigns. His lady endeared herself to many by her uniform 
gentleness and kindness. Neither of them showed pride or 
austerity. I could illustrate the assertion by several remembered 
incidents in proof." — Watson^ s Annals, 

No, 5448 Main Street was built about 1760 by John 
Bringhurst, who has been mentioned (p. 46). It later passed 
into possession of the Ashmead family. 

No, S450 Main Street y built about 1790, was for a time 
the residence of Thomas Armat. It is said of him that during 
the war of 18 12, when calling upon tenants for rent, if they 
were unable to pay, he would not only forgo his claim but aid 
them besides. He presented the town with hay scales in the 
square opposite, the revenue from which was turned over to 
certain beneficial societies. He kept a room in the house known 
as the ^* Ministers " room. He gave the land and was instru- 
mental in founding St. Luke's Episcopal Church. 



68 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Nos, S4S2 and S454 ^^^ ^^^ Ashmead houses. When 
they were built is not definitely known, but it is thought No. 
5452 was erected about 171 1, by John Ashmead, who came 
to Germantown from Cheltenham township in that year, purchas- 
ing a tract of 500 acres, of which a portion still remains in the 
family. The front of the house was rebuilt in 1790. 

In March, 1742, Count Zinzendorf occupied No. 5454 
and on the 14th of May he opened a school for young women 
with twenty-five girls and teachers. In June of the same year 
it was transfered to Bethlehem, where it still is in existence as 
the Moravian Seminary. 

Like many of the properties along the Main Street, the land 
for these extended back a considerable distance from the Main 
Street. 

*^ A large body of Hessians were hutted in Ashmead' s field, 
out the school lane, near the woods ; their huts were constructed 
of the rails from fences, set up at an angle of 45°, resting on a 
crossbeam centre ; over these were laid straw, and above the 
straw grass sod — they were close and warm. Those for the 
officers had wicker doors, with a glass light, and interwoven with 
plaited straw ; they had also chimneys made of grass sod. They 
no doubt had prepared so to pass the winter, but the battle broke 
up their plans. One of the Hessians afterwards became Wash- 
ington's coachman." — Watson^ s Annals, 

There is a story in the Ashmead family that during the 

69 



HISTORIC GERMJNTOfFN 

occupation of the town by the British a young British officer 
was attracted by little ** Polly " Ashmead and frequently visited 
the house. One day he stood before an open fire warming his 
back when the tail of his coat caught fire. Polly saw it but as 
he was a British officer she said nothing. When he discovered 
his coat was burning, and at the same time saw that Polly was 
laughing, he shook his finger at her, upbraided her for not tell- 
ing him and called her a '^ little rebel." 

From this family are descended, through Sophia Ashmead, 
who married, in 1843, Ellis Bartlett, an American merchant, 
the late Sir Ellis Ashmead Bartlett, a member of the English 
Parliament, and his brother, William Lehman Ashmead Bartlett, 
the husband of the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. They were both 
bom in America but were educated in England and became 
British subjects. 

WiUiam Penn once preached in the house of Jacob Tellner, 
which stood where the Savings Fund Building now stands, on the 
southwest corner of School Lane and Main Street. Dr. George 
Bensell pulled this house down to erect a handsome residence 
about 1795. This stood until 1880, when it was torn down 
to make way for the present building. The old doorway which 
stood in the Bensell house was removed through the efforts of 
Dr. WiUiam R. Dunton and placed in the house southeast cor- 

70 




7« 



HISTORIC GERMANrOWN 

ner of Main Street and Walnut Lane. There is a tradition that 
Jacob Tellner's house was the first stone house built in German- 
town, and that William Penn was present at the raising of the 
roof. 

The Woman's Christian Association building, fronting on 
the square, corner of Mill Street, was at one time occupied by 
one of the banks from Philadelphia, when the latter was driven 
out of Philadelphia by the yellow fever epidemic. Massive 
vaults had been constructed in the cellar to which the money 
was conveyed. This house was used for ^wq years by the 
Episcopalians as a place of worship until the erection of St. 
Luke's Church. 

Market Square Presbyterian Church is the third church 
building erected on this site. Originally built by the German 
Reformed Church in 1733, it was enlarged in 1762 and a 
steeple added. This building made way for a larger structure 
in 1839, which in turn was replaced by the present structure. 
Its first bell, cast in 1725, is still preserved in the church* 
Its weather vane, made of metal, represented a crowing cock. 
When the Paxtang were encamped in the square they amused 
themselves firing at the weathercock on the church. It still 
bears the marks of these bullets. It was removed when the 
present building was erected and is carefully preserved by Mr. 

73 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Charles J. Wister. Count Zinzendorf preached his first sermon 
on landing in America here, December 31st 1741, and on June 
17th, 1742, his last on leaving. At the time of the Battle a 
battalion of Virginians was captured and confined in the church 
building by the British until they were marched into the city. 
Here their tall figures, their wounds and powder-stained faces 
attracted much attention from the townspeople. 

*< The Ninth Regiment was in the hottest of the fight, and 
nearly one-half the whole regiment was killed and wounded. 
It drove every portion of the British Army with which it came 
in contact before it, and I was told by one of the officers that 
in the excitement of the moment, supposing every part of the 
American Army had been as successful as themselves, they had 
no doubt of reaching Philadelphia, the headquarters of General 
Howe. When the retreat of the American army was ordered, 
the Ninth Regiment was so far in advance of the rest of the 
army, that before they could join the main body they were sur- 
rounded and made prisoners. When surrounded they had made 
more prisoners than the whole number of the regiment. On 
the morning after the Battle of Germantown the prisoners were 
marched to Philadelphia.^' — Joyne* s Account, Ninth Virginia 
Continental Line, 

President Washington attended here when living in the 
Morris house opposite. 

The Mutual Fire Insurance Company, northeast corner 
74 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

School House Lane and Main Street, occupies the site of the 
old De La Plaine house. At the time of the Battle it was occu- 
pied by ' Squire Joseph Ferree, and a number of weeping women 
and children found refiige in the cellar while the fight was in 
progress. 

The Pennsylvania Council of Safety in 1776 ordered that 
the supply of salt and saltpetre be removed to Germantown, and 
presumably stored in Squire Ferree' s cellar, as he was in charge 
of it. On the 8th of July of that year it was *^ Resolved that 
Dr. Charles Bensell, Joseph Ferree and Leonard Stoneburner be 
appointed to collect all the leaden window weights, clock- 
weights and other lead in Germantown and its neighborhood," 
for which the liberal price of six pence per pound will be allowed. 

When Whitfield visited Germantown he preached from a 
little balcony to a great crowd gathered in the Market Square 
below. 

'* On Friday last the Rev. Mr. Whitefield arrived here 
with his Friends from New Torky where he preached eight 
Times ; . . . He has preach' d here twice every Day, since 
his arrival, in the Church to great Crowds, except Tuesday, 
when he Preach' d at German Town from a Balcony to about 
5000 People." — American Weekly Mercury^ Nov. 22 to Nov, 
29, 1739. 

Visitors should see the Shag Rag, the old hand engine be- 

75 



HIS'TORIC GERMANTOWN 

longing to the Middle Ward Fire Company, which is now 
carefully preserved by the Insurance Company in their office. 
It was imported from England in 1764. Water was carried 
to it in leather buckets, of which each member kept two hanging 
in his hallway ready for instant service. Three or four men 
standing on each side of the engine and working the handles up 
and down industriously could throw a stream of half an inch in 
diameter a distance of fifty feet or more. 

The Germantown Bank, northwest corner Main Street 
and School House Lane, was chartered in 18 13, and began 
business in 18 14. It was first located in a house next to the 
corner, 5504 Main Street, but in 1825 it removed to 5277 
Main Street. In 1868 it returned to its present location and 
later bought and absorbed 5504, the building in which it first 
started. 

The corner house was known as Bensell's house, having 
been erected early in the eighteenth century by Carl Benzelius. 
The house was occupied for several years, until about 1806, by 
the Germantown Library. 

** The Members of the Library Company of Germantown 
are desired to meet on Monday, the 6th Day of May, at the 
House of Daniel Mackenet, to choose three Directors and a 
Treasurer, and to make their tenth annual payment." — Penna^ 
Gazette y April 2^ th^ 1754- 

76 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

It was later altered into a store. 

In 1776 Lieutenant George Ball, of the British Navy, a pris- 
oner of war, was sent to Germantown by the Council of Safety. 
A letter was sent at the same time to Dr. Charles Bensell, desir- 
ing him to *^ provide proper lodging for the Lieutenant." 

For a brief period, during the yellow fever epidemic in 
Philadelphia, 1798, Elizabeth Drinker and her son boarded with 
the widow Bensell. Elizabeth Drinker writes in her well-known 
Journal, August 2 2d, 1798 : 

** Half of her house is taken by other persons, but we are 
entirely separated, ye doors between locked up. Aug. 23 d. 
Two Frenchmen lodge in the room adjoining us, with a door 
which opens into our room, which is locked and ye old lady 
has ye key. They were jabbering last night, but I could not 
understand them. They are nearer than I like ; I stopped the 
keyhole this morning with paper." 

Watson is authority for the statement that Generals Wash- 
ington, Knox and Greene slept in 5504, which was next to the 
corner. This building was occupied by the Bank of the United 
States during a portion of 1798. Elizabeth Drinker records, 
September 25 th : 

** Ye United States Bank removed ye contents thereof, fi-om 
Philada. ye 22nd inst. to Germantown — to the house lately 
occupied by Rochardet as a CoiFee house or Tavern next door to 

77 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 



S. Rhoads, escorted by a body of Light-horse. It occasioned 
a great stir in that neighborhood, where there was great abund- 
ance of it before." 

One square west of the Main Street is the Germantown 
Academy (southwest corner School House Lane and Greene 
Street), founded January ist, 1760. With the exception of a 
period during the Revolution, school has been held here con- 
tinuously since. It was originally called the Germantown Union 
School house. The little buildings were constructed for the 
masters. The school started with 131 pupils — 6 1 in the 
English and 70 in the German department. 

The following is an extract from an advertisement of the 
school in the Pennsylvania Gazette y March 5th, 1761 : 

** The School- House consists of 80 Feet in Front, and 40 
Feet in Depth, two Stories in Height, with six commodious 
Rooms for the Use of the several Schools. To which are 
added as Wings, two convenient Dwelling-houses, with a lot of 
Ground to each, for the Residence of the Masters and their 
Boarders. 

*< The Advantages of the School, with respect to Situation, 
must, if duly considered, contribute not a little to its Promotion 
and Encouragement. The House is built on a fine airy Hill, a 
little removed from the Public or Main street. The Air is 
known, from long Experience, to be pure and healthy ; often 
recommended, by the best Physicians, to Invalids ; and indeed 
the Place, without Exaggefation, may be justly termed the 

78 




79 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 



Montpelier of Pennsylvania. The Opportunities and Examples 
of Vice and Immorality, which ever prevail in large Cities, here 
w^ill seldom present themselves, to decoy the youthflil Mind 
from its natural Inclination of Virtue. Its Retirement, for want 
of Objects to divert the Attention will ^n the Mind to Appli- 
cation and Study. Its small Distance from the City of Phila- 
delphia will enable the Citizen, in some Measure, to superintend 
both the Health and Education of his Child. ' ' 

After the Battle the building was used as a hospital for the 
wounded, and several British soldiers are buried in the yard at 
the rear. The school was chartered by the State in 1786 as the 
Public School at Germantown. 

The bell in the belfry has a romantic history. It was 
brought to Philadelphia in 1774 in the tea ship Polly, which 
was not allowed to land by the indignant citizens of Philadel- 
phia. The cargo, including the bell, was carried back to 
England, where it remained until the war was over, when it 
was again brought over and put in place. A part of the 
weather vane is a crown representing the royal insignia of 
England, which has never been disturbed. In the Academy's 
possession are the telescope used by Washington at the time of 
the Battle and other interesting relics. The house on School 
House Lane opposite the Academy was bought in 18 10. The 
Gymnasium along Greene Street is a modern building. The 
public is admitted to the school. 

81 



HISTORIC GERMANfOWN 

In 1793, when, on account of the yellow fever in Philadel- 
phia, it seemed as if Congress would meet in Germantown, the 
the use of the Academy was tendered, November 6th, to Wash- 
ington as a meeting place, but owing to the abatement of the 
disease Congress assembled in Philadelphia December 2d. 

In 1798, when yellow fever again drove the citizens of 
Philadelphia to the suburbs and country, the Academy building 
was occupied by the Banks of North America and of Pennsyl- 
vania. Elizabeth Drinker, who was then in Germantown, 
writes in her Journal : 

** September 4 (1798). The Bank of Pennsylvania was 
this afternoon removed from Philadelphia, where it has lately 
been robbed of a considerable amount, to the school house in this 
town, escorted by McPherson's Blues. 

^* September 5. Germantown is Hke a beehive — the people 
swarm. About two o'clock, four wagons loaded with the cash, 
&c. , from the Bank of North America arrived here guarded by 
the Light-horse men. They are also deposited in the same 
school house where the contents of ye other was yesterday 
lodged. This draws great numbers to this place. Fifteen or 
twenty people are guarding ye Banks." 

No, ^506 Main Street y now modernized with a Mansard 
roof, was occupied during one of the yellow fever visitations 
by the officers of the State government. Governor Mifflin and 
Alexander J. Dallas, Secretary of the Commonwealth, having 

82 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 

their offices here. When the building next south was torn down 
to make way for the addition to the Germantown National 
Bank, a doorway was disclosed, indicating that there was a con- 
nection between the two buildings. 

Built in the wall of the rear building of this house is the head 
of an Indian made of some dark stone. It may be seen from 
the alleyway just north of the next house. Its origin and his- 
tory are unknown, although there is a tradition that it 
was unearthed when the foundations of the house were 
dug. 

Nos, 5516—5518—^520 Main Street, in Revolutionary 
times, was the King of Prussia Tavern. Its sign, which is still 
preserved, is said to have shown King Frederick on horseback 
and to have been painted by Gilbert Stuart while he was a tem- 
porary resident of Germantown. It was later painted over. 
In the rear there formerly stood a large barn which was used as a 
slaughter house by the British at the time of the Battle. The 
first stage coach with an awning was run from the King of 
Prussia to the George Inn, Second and Arch Streets, three times 
a week. About 1834 its use as a tavern ceased. The door- 
way on the second floor, at the south end, which has been 
closed up, shows where at one time it had been connected 
with the next house below. 

83 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 



*' Andrew Weckeser begs leave to inform the Publick, 
*< That he has opened a House of entertainment in German- 
town, at the Sign of the King-of- Prussia, near John Jones's, 
Esq : where all Gentlemen, Ladies, Travellers, &c. may depend 
on the best usage. Their favors will be gratefully acknowl- 
edged by their humble Servant. Andrew Weckeser, ' ' 
— Pennsylvania Gazette^ Dec. i^thy 17^7^ 

Standing back from the street next above the King of Prussia 
is an old hipped roof building, occupied at one time by Christian 
Lehman, who came to America with his father in 1 7 3 i with a 
passport written with gold ink on parchment. Christian Lehman 
was an importer of tulip and hyacinth bulbs, and is said to have 
imported the first English walnuts brought to this country. One 
tree of this variety still stands on the place. In this connection 
the following advertisement appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette y 
August 4th, 1763 : 

'^ To be sold during the latter Part of this Summer only, an 
Assortment of English double Hyacinth Roots, of a variety of 
Colours, as well as sundry other Sorts of Flower Roots, of var- 
ious Prices, by Christian Lehman, in Germantown. 

** N. B. He also keeps constantly for Sale some of the best 
English Walnut Trees, as well as other Fruit and Flowering 
Trees, of a Size fit to plant out, etc., etc. etc." 

The First Presbyterian Church, Chelton Avenue west of 

84 




85 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Main Street, stands where at one time was a famous orchard, 
and the steeple is directly over a spring. In digging the foun- 
dation it was necessary to drive piles on which the foundations 
were constructed. The orchard referred to was that of a Ger- 
man named Kurtz, whose house stood on the west of the Main 
Street where Chelton Avenue has been opened through. Kurtz 
was a great horticulturalist and botanist and his gardens contained 
many rare specimens. He was a friend of Matthias Kin, an 
eccentric man who was employed by German horticulturalists 
to collect seeds and plants for them. He spent most of the 
time exploring the wilds of North America, and it was to him 
that Kurtz was indebted for many of his specimens. 

The First Presbyterian Church was formally located where 
is now the Young Mens' Christian Association Building, and 
the first meetings of the body were, before the erection of a 
church building, held in the Blair house, southeast corner of 
Main Street and Walnut Lane. 

Vernon Park, on the West side of Main Street just above 
Chelten Avenue, now includes the old Wister mansion and 
some adjoining properties. Most of this land formerly belonged 
to Melchoir Meng, whose house stood along the main street 
immediately adjoining what is now No. 5708 Main Street. 
Melchoir Meng shared with his neighbor Kurtz a great love for 

87 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 

trees and plants, and John Wister, who bought the property and 
lived here for many years, preserved and added to the collection. 
Some of these rare specimens are still standing, particularly 
noticeable being several great holly trees. Melchoir Meng was 
one of the founders of the Germantown Academy, and at the 
Battle his house was occupied by the wounded soldiers. His 
three daughters were alone in the house at the time, and the 
British officers assured them if they would go up stairs and stay 
there no harm would befall them. The house had been selected 
as a hospital on account of the numerous barrels of vinegar 
stored in the cellar, this being used to stanch the flow of blood. 
They saw the stricken Colonel Bird brought in and laid upon 
the porch, and soon the house was filled with wounded men. 

Melchoir Meng's house was taken down when the city 
bought the property a few years ago. 

Vernon Mansion was erected in 1803 by James Matthews, 
who, a few years later, sold it to John Wister, who lived here 
until his death. His son, John Wister, was a member of Con- 
gress and occupied Vernon until his death in 1883. The 
property now belongs to the city, and the mansion is oc- 
cupied by the Germantown branch of the Free Library of 
Philadelphia. 

No, 5845 Main Street was standing at the time of the Bat- 
88 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

tie. There is a tradition that at one time a mounted British 
soldier rode up to the door and demanded something. On 
being refused, he tried to urge his horse into the doorway, which 
was then guarded by a Dutch or double door. 

The tollgate for the turnpike stood in the street just below 
this house and opposite Rittenhouse Street. 

The Young Mens' Christian Association stands where for 
many years was the First Presbyterian Church. It was organ- 
ized in 1809 as the *^ English Churgh " of Germantown. In 
181 1 the site was chosen, and in July, 18 12, the building was 
dedicated. The church remained here until 1870, when it 
was removed to Chelten Avenue, the building after that date 
being occupied by the Young Men's Christian Association. 

The First Methodist Church of Germantown was, until within 
a few years, located on East Haines' Street, a square or more 
east of the main street. The church was organized in 1796. 
There had been meetings of this body for some time previous to 
this date held, among other places, in the Academy Building. 

The first meeting house was on the south side of East Haines 
Street (formerly Pickius Lane, later Methodist Lane, or Meeting 
House Lane) and was erected in 1804. In 18 12 a large lot 
further out Haines Street was bought. On this lot a meeting 

89 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 

house was built in 1823. The church building was later sold 
to the city and is now used as a public school. 

On the south side of Haines Street, the first house east of 
Chew Street (about three- fourths of a mile east of Main Street), 
still stands a farm house that belonged to Christopher Ludwig. 
In 1777 he was appointed Baker General to the American 
army. He was an ardent patriot, possessed considerable influ- 
ence, and is said to have been the original of Harvey Birch in 
Cooper's novel ^* The Spy." He was respected by Washing- 
ton, and the latter, in 1785, gave him a certificate of good 
conduct, of which Christopher Ludwig was very proud and 
which he had framed and hung in his parlor. He was born in 
Germany in 1720. He had been a soldier in the Austrian and 
Prussian armies. He was a baker by trade and amassed a for- 
tune in his business, an important part of which was making 
gingerbread. At his death he left much to charities. His grave 
is in St. Michael's Lutheran yard and consists of a granite top- 
stone on granite pillars, with a long inscription giving an account 
of the principal events of his Hfe. He died in 1801. 

For further details see *' Life of Christopher Ludwig," by 
Dr. Benjamin Rush. 

The Town Hall during the war of the Rebellion was used 
as a hospital. Numerous frame wards were also constructed at 

90 




9» 



HISTORIC GERMJNTOfFN 

the side and rear, so that eventually the hospital accommodated 
630 beds. The hospital was organized July, 1862. It was 
called theCuyler Hospital, in honor of John M. Cuyler, M.D., 
Medical Director, U. S. A. 

The hospital was used until the end of the war. 

The clock in the Town Hall was made by Lukens, of 
Montgomery County, and was formerly in the State House, 
Philadelphia. The Bell was the second one in the history of the 
State House, and is said to contain considerable silver to give it 
a *' silvery" tone. The steeple was erected for it and the 
clock started in Germantown, October 4th, 1878. 

No, S93^ Main Street is the Engle house, built by Ben- 
jamin Engle in 1758 and remains in the possession of this family 
to this day. The Engles were tanners in early days, and the 
tannery stood in the rear until modern times. The tradition is 
that Elizabeth Engle, standing in the doorway after the Battle, 
saw the wounded General Agnew carried by on a door. After 
the Battle the British soldiers were seen gathering up the 
American muskets and breaking them one by one over a cubical 
quartz stone which stood for many years at the gateway along- 
side the house to keep the wagon wheels from hitting the post. 
A good Engle horse was taken from the stable and a poor old 
English hack substituted. 

93 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

The house at the southeast corner of Main Street and High 
Street is known as the Morris-Littell house. Mrs. Ann Willing 
Morris lived here from 1812 until her death, in 1832. Of 
her two daughters who occupied the house, one was Margaret 
H. Morris, the first woman elected a member of the Academy 
of Natural Sciences. She was a noted naturalist, and it is said 
that to her belongs the credit ot discovering the habits of the 
seventeen-year locusts, enabling her to predict their reappearance. 
It was on these grounds that the investigations were made. 

This house, or a portion of it, was the home at one time of 
Dr. Christopher Witt, further mention of whom will be found 
in the succeeding paragraphs. 

No, 25 High Street, just in the rear of the Methodist 
Church, was built about 1796 by Daniel Pastorius, a great 
grandson of Francis Daniel Pastorius. It then stood on the 
Main Street, next to the Morris-Littell house, with only a car- 
riage drive separating them. When High Street was opened it 
was moved some Mx.y feet northward, and a few years ago it 
was moved once more to its present location. 

Some thirty years ago Dr. Dunton tore down the old Pas- 
torius house, which formerly stood between his house and No. 
6019 Main Street, and used the stone in building the rear 
wing of this house. 

94 




95 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 



Dr. Dunton has carved over his doorway the Xatin motto, 
Procul este profani, which Whittier says was carved over 
Pastorius' door. 

^< Then through the vine-draped door whose legend read, 
^ Procul este profani !' Anna led 
To where their child upon his little bed 

'* Looked up and smiled. * Dear heart,' she said, *if we 
Must bearers of a heavy burden be. 
Our boy, God willing, yet the day shall see 

<* * When from the gallery to the farthest seat 
Slave and slave-owner shall no longer meet. 
But all sit equal at the Master's feet.' " 

— From Whittier* 5 Pennsylvania Pilgrim, 

In the rear, almost adjoining the church, is an old building, 
formerly a Pastorius farm house. The doorway, which is a 
particularly handsome one, was formerly in one of the Bensell 
houses on the Main Street above School Lane, torn down to 
make way for the Germantown National Bank. 

St. Michael's Episcopal Church, on the south side of High 
Street, two squares east of the Main Street, occupies the site of 
the old Warner burying ground. Its walls may be traced by 
the stone foundation still showing through the sod. In ad- 
dition to the graves of the two Doctor Warners, for whom sub- 
tantial headstones are still standing, there are numerous other 

97 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

mounds without stones. Here is also buried, in a now un- 
marked grave. Dr. Christopher Witt (or Dewit, as it is some- 
times spelled), who died in 1765, aged ninety years. 

*^ Last week died at Germantown Dr. Christopher Dewit ; 
a gentleman long and well known throughout this and the neigh- 
boring Provinces, for his great Services and Abilities in the Pro- 
fession of a Physician." — Pennsylvania Gazette, February 7, 

It is said that some of the dead from the Battle, English as 
well as Americans, are buried here, and for many years before 
the church was built the graveyard and the surrounding ground 
was called ^' Spook Hill." 

No. 601 Q Main Street was formerly the Green Tree Tav- 
ern. It was built in 1748. The letters ^^ D. S. P" in the 
date stone stand for Daniel and Sarah Pastorius, The house 
was a public one kept by Daniel Pastorius until his death in 

1754- 

There is a well-founded tradition that during the Battle the 

attacking Americans, on the east side of the Main Street, under 

General Wayne, penetrated this far towards the centre of the 

town. It is referred to in the chronicles of the time as the 

** Widow Mackinnett's Tavern," and it was a famous resort for 

driving and sleighing parties from the city. Later it was called 

the ** Hornets' Nest," from an immense hornets' nest that was 

98 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

kept here as a curiosity. The tavern was the resting place of 
many curiosities of the town and vicinity. In 1825, when 
Lafayette was invited to visit Germantown, the intention was to 
entertain him at dinner at this inn. The evening before the 
day he was expected it was concluded that the tavern would 
not accommodate the party, so a deputation visited the Chew 
House, where arrangements were made for the dinner, over 
which Miss Ann Chew, then a young lady of sixteen, presided. 

Nos. 6021 and 6o2j Main Street are Warner houses. 
The Warners were early identified with the Pietist hermits of 
the Wissahickon, and particularly with Dr. Christopher Witt, 
the survivor of this remarkable body. Watson is authority for 
the statement that Dr. Witt's interest in the Warners was first 
aroused by their giving him a hat to replace his, which had 
blown away. Be this as it may, the relations were very close 
between the old doctor and the family, and when the former 
died he left his big house to Christian Warner. 

Dr. Witt was born in England in 1675 ^^^ came to Penn- 
sylvania in 1704. He was one of the most remarkable men 
who lived in Germantown. He was a physician, botanist, 
scholar, musician, astronomer and lover of nature, originally one 
of the hermits of the Wissahickon, a friend of John Bartram, 
the botanist, and of other noted men. 

99 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 

An oil portrait of Johannes Kelpius, the Hermit of the 
Wissahickon, painted by Dr. Christopher Witt, is believed to 
be the first oil portrait painted in America, 1705. It is in the 
possession of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, 

*^ Dr. Witt w^as a skilled botanist, and upon his removal to 
Germantow^n, after the death of Kelpius, he started a large gar- 
den for his ovv^n study and amusement, and to him probably is 
due the honor of starting the first botanical garden in America. 
This w^as about tvi^enty years prior to Bartram's purchase on the 
Schuylkill for a like purpose." — The German Pietists of Penn- 
sylvania, p. 406. 

It v^^as no doubt through Dr. Witt's influence that two of 
the Warners, father and son, became physicians. The latter 
died during the yellov^ fever epidemic of 1793. Their graves 
are referred to in a preceding paragraph. 

A portion of ** Wyck," south vs^est corner of Walnut Lane 
and Main Street, is thought to be the oldest house stiU standing 
in Germantow^n. The present building was originally two 
houses with a driveway between them. Its halls were used as 
a hospital and operating room after the Battle and blood stains 
still remain upon the floors. Reuben Haines, who in- 
herited the property, was a prominent man of his day. He 
greatly aided in the building of the turnpike from Chestnut Hill 

100 




lOI 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 

to the city, and was active in other ways. When the Marquis 
of Lafayette visited Germantown, July 20th, 1825, he was 
entertained at ** Wyck." Lafayette and his suite had pre- 
viously visited the Chew House, then the Mount Airy College. 
On their return they stopped at *^ Wyck," where a reception 
was tendered him. He was addressed by Charles Pierce, Esq., 
and John F. Watson, the annalist, who presented him with a 
** box of great curiosity and value." During the reception 
Lafayette was seated in a chair that had belonged to Benjamin 
Franklin and which is still in possession of the family. The 
guests entered the front door and filed out at the back. From 
* ^ Wyck ' ' Lafayette went to the Academy and from there re- 
turned to the city. 

Among the trees on the lawn of *^Wyck" is a Spanish 
chestnut, a seedling from a tree General Washington planted for 
Judge Peters at Belmont. 

In the rear of ** Wyck" was the large old-fashioned barn 
erected in 1796 which, in 1890, was altered into a beautiful 
and comfortable dwelling standing on Walnut Lane. 

No, 604J Main Street, southeast corner Main Street and 
Walnut Lane, is a house of very considerable historic interest. 
The property was bought in 1775 by Dr. William Shippen as a 
summer home. Tradition has it that this was the first three- 



103 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Story house built in Germantown. It was the centre of a fierce 
skirmish during the Battle, and its plaster and woodwork for 
many years bore the marks of bullets, and the print in blood of a 
man's foot remained on one of the floors for some time. The 
house was also occupied by Dr. Shippen's son-in-law, the 
Reverend Samuel Blair, who was instrumental in establishing in 
Germantown the First Presbyterian Church. Services were 
at one time held in this house. Dr. Blair was elected Presi- 
dent of Princeton College, but voluntarily made way for the 
famous Dr. Witherspoon. He was also a chaplain in the 
American army. 

Later the Pennsylvania Manual Labor School was located 
here under the charge of Dr. George Junkin, afterward 
President of Washington and Lee University. One of his 
daughters married the famous Confederate General *^ Stonewall " 
Jackson. In 1832 Dr. Junkin removed to Easton to assume the 
duties of President of Lafayette College. The property in 185 1 
was owned by Charlotte Cushman, the famous actress. It was 
she who opened the East Walnut Lane, which she called 
Chestnut Street. The beautiful doorway was formerly that of a 
house which belonged to Dr. Bensell, at the corner of Main 
Street and School House Lane, now occupied by the Savings 
Fund. 



104 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

The house on the northeast corner of Main and East Walnut 
Lane was built in 1806 by the Rev. Samuel Blair, for his son, 
Samuel Blair, Jr. 

The Mennonite Meeting House is on the Main Street, above 
Herman Street. As has been stated elsev^here, the little band 
of first settlers was composed of Friends and Mennonites. Here 
in 1708 the latter built a little log meeting house, the first to be 
erected in America, succeeded in 1770 by the present building. 
From behind a wall at this point a party of citizens fired upon 
the British troops as they marched up the Main Street during the 
Battle and mortally wounded Brigadier General Agnew, riding at 
the head. 

William Rittenhouse, famous as being the first paper maker 
in the colonies, was the first pastor of the congregation. 

No, 6202 Main Street was built in 1738 by Dirck Keyser, 
who came fi-om Amsterdam with his son, Peter Dirck Keyser, 
in 1688. There is a tradition that this was the first two-story 
house erected in Germantown. Notice the initials '^ D. K. 
1738," cut in the stones on the fi-ont of the house alongside of 
one of the windows. 

Dirck Keyser was connected with the Mennonite Church. 
In Amsterdam he had been a silk merchant, and after he arrived 

105 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

here he wore a silk coat, which caused his neighbors some dis- 
gust. Some of the brethren calling to talk over his worldliness, 
found him in his garden. As he advanced to meet them he 
wiped his hands on his coat. They concluded, on seeing this, 
that he did not value it unduly and so said nothing of the ob- 
ject of their visit. 

The Washington Tavern, No, 62 jg Main Street ^ is an old 
building, and was known by this name as early as 1793. It is 
the type of a large number of taverns which in the early days 
lined the Main Street of Germantown. The Buck, Sadler's 
Arms, Green Tree, Indian King, Indian Queen, Crown and 
Cushion, Roebuck, Buttonwood, Fountain, Black Horse, White 
Horse, Lamb, White Lamb, Treaty Elm, and King of Prussia 
are some of the names of taverns that have now passed away. 
In the early times the capacious yard of the Washington Tavern 
could not accommodate all the teams putting up there for the 
night, and there would be an overflow row of wagons along the 
Main Street. 

No. 6306 Main Sreet, the Johnson house, stood in the 
thickest of the fight at the time of the Battle. John Johnson, 
the occupant at this time, alarmed by the noise, went to his door 
to look out. A British officer riding by advised the family to seek 

106 




I07 



HISrORIC GERMANTOWN 

a place of safety. It was early in the morning and the maids had 
just brought in the morning's milk from the barn. They hastily 
left it and quickly sought refuge in the cellar. After the Battle 
the British soldiers swarmed through the house, drank the milk 
and cleared the kitchen or everything eatable. 

A rifle ball passed through the house and the hole through the 
parlor door is still visible. A cannon ball knocked a chip out 
of the north corner of the house about two feet above the fence. 
The house is still in possession of the Johnson family. 

The house was one of the largest and most substantial in 
Germantown when it was built, and on this account its building 
gave some concern to members of the Society of Friends, of 
which body the Johnsons were also members. 

No, 6316 Main Street, now occupied by Mr. Ellwood 
Johnson, was formerly a Keyser property and back of it is still 
standing a cedar fence that was riddled with bullets at the Bat- 
tle. The engagement back of this and the adjoining houses 
was particularly severe. The old fence, its bullet holes worn 
much larger by the winds and storms of a century and more, is 
now protected by another fence. During the engagement a 
bullet passed clear through the barn, striking an officer, who was 
carried to the rear of the tannery, where he died. 

Separating this property from the Johnsons', adjoining, is a 

109 



HISTORIC GERMANTOtVN 

Stone wall which was used as a breastwork, and this was one of 
the many obstacles that hampered the advance of the American 
army. 

The Keysers were tanners and a portion of the tannery 
buildings still remains. There is also a millstone used for grind- 
ing bark which weighs nearly a ton, and which Nathan Keyser 
is said to have been able to lift at one time. Honey Run, a 
considerable little stream, used to flow across the garden in the rear. 

No, 6j07 Main Street was built in 1760 by Jacob Knorr. 
It stood in the thick of the fight at the Battle. 

The fourth building above Washington Lane, on the east 
side adjoining the burying ground, is the Concord School House, 
built in 1775 for the upper residents of Germantown, who 
found the Academy on School Lane too far away. It was used 
as a school for many years and is at present occupied by the 
Charter Oak Library. Query : Why was it called Concord ? 
Was it because the first German immigrants had come over in 
the ship Concord, or was it because its foundations were laid at 
the time when the shot that was heard around the world was 
being fired at Concord, Mass. ? 

The Upper Burying Ground of Germantown, sometimes 
called Ax's burying ground, from John Frederick Ax, who had 

no 




Ill 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

charge of it from 1724 to 1756, is on the east side of Main 
Street, above the Concord School. Here are buried many of the 
early settlers of Germantown and their descendants. The 
oldest known grave is that of Cornelius Tyson, vv^ho died in 
17 16. Judge Penny packer takes this to be the oldest existing 
tombstone to the memory of a Dutchman or German in Penn- 
sylvania. Just inside the gatevsray are the graves of the Lippard 
family, ancestors of George Lippard, a writer of some con- 
siderable activity. In the east corner of the yard are the graves 
of several American soldiers killed at the Battle, including 
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Irwin, of a North Carolina regi- 
ment ; Captain Turner, of North Carolina, and Adjutant 
Lucas. Over their neglected and almost unknown graves the 
annalist Watson erected a plain marble stone. 

The little stone built into the wall at the right of the gateway 
gives the various dates when the wall was built and repaired. 

For a detailed account, including a list of burials, see an 
article by Peter D. Keyser, in the ^' Pennsylvania Magazine of 
History^ Vol. VIII, No. 4, and Vol. IX. No. i. 

The vacant lot adjoining the Upper Burial Ground is all that 
remains of Pomona, once a handsome estate extending along the 
Main Street to Duval Street and as far back as Morton Street. 
After the Revolution Pomona was the home of Colonel Thomas 



113 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Forrest, an artillery officer from Germantown, later a member of 
the XVI and XVII Congresses. 

The Ship House, No, 6338 Main Streety is so called from 
the plaster representation of a ship showing on its south gable. 
In early times it was a hotel with a sign showing William Penn's 
treaty with the Indians under the Shackamaxon Elm. The tra- 
dition is that the front part was built about 1760. In the rear 
was a large building, the first public hall in Germantown. The 
'* Bulldog," one of the first three hand fire engines, was kept 
here. It is now in possession of the Bockius family. 

No, 6347 Main Street was the residence for many years of 
Rev. John Rodney, who was the rector of St. Luke's Episcopal 
Church from 1825 to 1867, and rector emeritus until his death 
in 1886. The upper portion of the house was built by John 
Keyser and at the time of the Battle was occupied by him and 
his family. As the house was high up above the street, the 
family from their refuge in the cellar were able, by placing an 
apple under the outside cellar door, to witness the Battle in the 
opposite field. There is a tradition that a soldier officer fell 
near the cellar door and the Keysers, at his burial, saved the 
silver shoe buckles which he wore. Years after one of his 
descendants, searching for information as to his ancestor, was 
directed to the Keysers. It then developed that the officer they 

114 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

had helped bury was the person searched for and the buckles 
were given to the rightful owner. 

The Chew House occupies the square bounded by the 
Main Street, Johnson and Morton Streets and Cliveden 
Avenue. It was the scene of the most important incident con- 
nected with the Battle. Indeed, the house and grounds have 
for a century and a quarter been pointed out as the Germantown 
Battle Ground. The place is called ** Cliveden." The man- 
sion was built about 1760 by Benjamin Chew, who at diiFerent 
times was Attorney- General of the Province, a member of the 
Provincial Council and later. Chief Justice. 

Cliveden is two and one-half stories high and built of solid 
and heavy masonry. Back of it are two wings used for ser- 
vants' quarters and kitchen and laundry ; one wing is semi- 
detached and the other entirely so. Still further in the rear is 
the old stable, the whole forming a natural and admirable fortifi- 
cation, almost impregnable against any artillery which in that day 
could be brought against it. Along the front of the lawn there 
was, as there is to-day, a low terrace wall, and leading up to 
the house was a lane of good-sized cherry trees. Opposite was 
an open field stretching away to the banks of Paper Mill Run. 
The important part played by '^Cliveden" in turning the 
fortunes of the day in the Battle of Germantown has been ex- 
plained in another chapter. 

115 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

When Colonel Musgrave with his soldiers entered the house 
he ordered all the shutters on the first floor closed ; a few men 
were placed at each window and the doors, with orders to bay- 
onet anyone trying to enter. Most of the men then ascended 
to the second floor. He instructed them how to cover them- 
selves and at the same time direct their fire out of the windows, 
adding that their only safety was in the defense of the house, 
that the situation was by no means a bad one, as there had been 
instances of only a few men defending a house against superior 
numbers ; that he had no doubt of their being supported and 
delivered by their friends, but in any event they must sell them- 
selves as dearly as possible. Some of the men climbed out of 
the back windows on to the roof and lying flat, fired over the 
front, and all disposed themselves to make a vigorous defense. 

At the very first shot of the Continental cannon the front 
doors were burst open and some of the men were wounded with 
pieces of splintered stone. Captain Haines, a brave and intelli- 
gent ofiicer commanding on the ground floor, ordered tables and 
chairs and everything available in the way of furniture, piled 
against the doors. 

The Continental soldiers advanced under cover of the cherry 
trees in the lane and crouched behind the trees and marble statues 
as they fired at the windows above. One observer says the fir- 
ing from the house was tremendous. The balls seemed to come 

ii6 




Grave Stone in Upper Burying Ground 



117 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 

in showers. Several efforts were made to set fire to the house, 
and Major White, of Sullivan's staff, w^as killed in making the 
attempt. A bundle of straw was piled against the cellar win- 
dow, but it failed to ignite the woodwork. 

All efforts so bravely put forth by the Americans were 
unavailing. The house resisted every attack and Colonel Mus- 
grave maintained his position until relieved by reinforcements. 
It is said the only man he had killed was in the northwest cham- 
ber on the second floor. No less than forty-six officers and men 
were killed in Maxwell's attacking brigade. 

It was a sorry looking house that remained. The walls and 
ceilings were blackened with smoke and the floor stained with 
blood. In the front hall many holes are to be seen filled with 
plaster, plainly showing because not quite of the same color as 
the original. Not alone in the hall but everywhere, the plaster 
had been broken by cannon and rifle balls, the woodwork was 
splintered and the stonework shattered, the marble statues were 
knocked over, broken and disfigured. One six-pound cannon 
ball had entered the front window, passed through four partitions 
and had gone out at the back. Five carpenters, as well as other 
mechanics, were employed all the next winter putting it in 
order. The third story suffered more than the second, and the 
second more than the first. The ceiling of the second story 
was, and is, literally peppered with the bullets from the muskets 

119 



HISTORIC GERMANTOIVN 

of those who crept up as close as they could and fired into the 
second-story windows. Around the base of the column in the 
hall are still to be seen marks which are supposed to have been 
made by the butts of muskets stacked up around them. 

The Chew family was away fi^om home at the time of the 
Battle and the house but partly fiirnished had been left in the 
care of the gardener and probably other servants. There was 
among these a pretty dairy maid whom the gardener much ad- 
mired. The dairy maid was rather pleased than otherwise 
when the red coats took possession of the house and was not in- 
clined to resent their tender familiarities. Seeing this, the gar- 
dener remonstated with her, but without effect, and a *^tifF'* 
soon resulted. When the firiQg became heavy he urged her in 
vain to go to the cellar, and it was not until a cannon ball went 
through the house, making a great commotion, that the gardener, 
thinking further argument unnecessary, gave her a push which 
sent her headlong to the bottom of the stairs. He then turned 
the lock and left her in the cellar. Where he hid is not known, 
but they both came through the attack in safety. 

The best position to view the house is from the gateway on 
Johnson Street. The house and grounds are not open to the 
public, but Mrs. Chew has not heretofore objected to amateur 
photographers and sightseers, who have a proper regard for the 
property, entering the grounds for a nearer view of the house. 

1 20 



HISTORIC GERMANTOfTN 

When Johnson Street was opened the graves of a number of 
soldiers were discovered who had been buried in the grounds. 
Miss Ann Chew had the remains removed, and they now rest 
under the clump of shrubbery close to the fence at the corner of 
Johnson and Morton Streets. 

Upsala, on the west side of Main Street, almost opposite 
the Chew House, is thought to be one of the finest examples of 
the so-called '^ Colonial " architecture in this part of the country. 
The house was erected in 1798 by John Johnson, ancestor of 
the present occupants. It was three years in building. The 
cannon trained on the Chew Mansion, nearly opposite, were 
first placed where now is the front lawn of this house. For 
many years Upsala has been famous for its rare and beautiful trees. 

The httle old house at the northwest corner of Main and 
Upsal Streets was standing at the time of the Battle. It 
was for a long time the home of a certain Englishman, John 
Bardsley, a painter by trade, who some thirty years ago was sent 
to England through the influence of Germantown's then Coun- 
cilman, Wilham F. Smith, to bring over a lot of EngUsh sparrows 
to destroy the caterpillars, then infesting the trees of the city. 
It is believed that this was the first introduction of the sparrow 
on any great scale. The house has since been called Sparrow 
Jack's House. 

121 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

The Billmyer house stands at the northeast corner of Main 
and Upsal Streets. It was erected about 1727, and formerly 
was one house. At the time of the Battle it was owned and 
occupied by the widow Deshler and her family. It was at this 
house that Washington paused in his march down the Main 
Street at the time of the Battle, having discovered that the 
Chew mansion was occupied by the British. At that time there 
was no house between this and the Chew house. The tradi- 
tion is that Washington stood on a horse block, telescope in 
hand, trying in vain to penetrate the smoke and fog and discover 
the force of the enemy entrenched in the Chew mansion. The 
stone cap of the horse block on which he stood is still preserved, 
and the telescope, is now in possession of the Germantown 
Academy. 

The house later suiFered greatly at the hands of the British 
soldiers who were quartered here. Its woodwork yet bears the 
marks of bullets and of attempts made by the soldiers to set it on 
iire. About 1788 it was bought by Michael Billmyer, a cele- 
brated German printer, who here carried on his trade. The 
upper portion is still in possession of his family. Note the tablet 
erected by the Site and Relic Society. 

The odd building adjoining the Meeting House, No, 6611 
Main Street, was used as the parsonage, and parts of it are 

122 




EWfW 



i^iin!z|;v,^||l,"|\ 









123 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

said to be two hundred years old. Near it, in the Main Street, 
at the Battle of Germantown General Nash was mortally- 
wounded and Major Witherspoon was killed by the same can- 
non ball. Major Witherspoon was buried in the yard adjoining. 
In later years his brother and sister came on from Princeton to 
secure his remains, but they were in such a condition that the 
attempts were abandoned and the body was again buried in 
the graveyard of the Lutheran Church, a short distance 
above. 

The Church of the Brethern, or Dunkards, 66iJ Main 
Street, above Sharpnack Street, is the mother congregation of 
this sect in America. The Dunkards came to this country in 
1 7 19 and were gathered into a church organization in 1723 by 
Peter Becker, who was their first elder and pastor. They 
worshipped for many years in the homes of their members until 
about 1760, when they occupied a log building which stood 
in front of the meeting house. The front portion of the 
present building was erected in 1770 and the rear portion in 
1897. 

In the Meeting House a tablet has been erected to the 
memory of Christopher Sauer by Charles G. Sower, as follows: 



[25 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 



In Memory of 

Christopher Sauer 

Bishop of 

Church of the Brethren. 

Born 1 72 1 Died 1784 

Baptized 1737 Deacon 1747 

Minister 1748 Bishop 1753. 

Published the Holy Bible 

Second Edition 1763. Third Edition 1776. 



Only son of 

Christopher Sauer 

Born 1693 in Laasphe, Germany 

Came to America in 1724. 

Commenced Publishing in Germantown 1738. 

Published Fu-st Am Quarto Edition of the Holy Bible 

1743- 
Died in Germantown 1758. 



In the graveyard are the graves of Alexander Mack, the 
founder of the Dunkard sect, who came to America in 1729, 
and of Harriet Livermore, the Pilgrim Stranger who is alluded 
to in Whittier's '* Snow Bound," an eccentric religious en- 
thusiast, the daughter of a Senator from New Hampshire. Her 
last days were spent in poverty in Philadelphia and as she was 

126 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

about to be buried in a pauper's grave a member of the 
Dunkard Church took her body and had it interred here. 

At the Battle of Germantown this meeting house was a 
witness of the fighting. In the loft Christopher Sauer had 
stored some sheets of the third edition of the Sauer Bible. 
These were taken by the British cavalrymen who were en- 
camped about and used as litter for their horses. Afterwards 
Sauer gathered as many as he could find together and had 
enough sheets to make complete Bibles for each of his children. 
Some of the paper is also said to have been used as wadding for 
the muskets of the combatants. 

The old house No, 666g Main Street belongs to the Luthe- 
ran Church, just above, and was used for many years as a 
home for the sexton. It is very old, but the date of its erection 
is not known. 

St. Michael's Lutheran Church is at the southeast corner of 
Main and Phil-ellena Streets, It was founded about 1737. 
In 1742 the Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg took charge of 
the two churches, one in Philadelphia and the other in German- 
town. In 1746 the work of considerably enlarging the church 
was begun. Pews were placed in it in 1750. In 1752 a par- 
sonage was bought. The present building is the third successive 

127 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

one that has occupied the site. At the Battle the parsonage was 
seized by the British and the organ was destroyed, the soldiers 
running along the streets blowing on the pipes. 

In the graveyard are the remains of Christopher Ludwig, 
** Baker General " to the American army ; also of Major With- 
erspoon, son of Rev. John Witherspoon, president of Princeton 
College, killed in the Battle, as well as those of many of the 
early settlers of the town. 

At 'No, 67 4Q Main Street, George Hesser, at the time of 
the Battle, had just completed the cellar for his new house. 
Such a good-sized excavation proved too great a temptation for 
those who were burying the dead, and it was used for this pur- 
pose. Hesser was consequently obliged to abandon this site, 
and started again farther down the road. The old cellar is sup- 
posed to be about where the gateway enters on the north. The 
barn bears the date 1777, and was probably completed before the 
Jiouse. The property is now in possession of the Bayard family. 

An account of life in Germantown, with some interesting 
local details during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, will be 
found in Elizabeth Drinker's Journal. Henry Drinker, his wife 
Elizabeth, and a portion of their family, lodged with George 
Hesser from July 8 th to November i6th of that year. 

At 68 4J Main Street is the Paul house, occupied at the 
128 




129 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

time of the Battle by the Gorgas family. The door jams con- 
tain bullet marks and there are other evidences and traces of 
damage. To save their cows the family penned them up in the 
kitchen. In the front yard, nearly opposite the window, at the 
left of the front door, stood a big linden tree in which four 
cannon balls found lodgment. During the century after the 
Battle, the heart having rotted away, allowed the balls to fall to 
the ground inside the hollow trunk. One morning Miss Paul 
was digging away at the root of the stump to plant some flow- 
ers, when out rolled the balls. 

Back in a field in the angle formed by the Reading Railroad 
and Gorgas Lane and about equidistant from each, is the old 
Unruh homestead. The house is still roofed with earthen tiles 
under the later covering of tin. After the Battle wounded 
soldiers were quartered here. It is not known when the old 
house was built. The Unruhs came from Germany. 

On the opposite side of the railroad is another old homestead, 
with a pond near the house and barn. The tradition is that the 
retreating soldiers threw their muskets into the water to save them 
from being captured. The farm is now occupied by a Mr. Wentz. 

Occupying the site of the Lutheran Theological Seminary, 
on the east side of the Main Street, at Allen's Lane, was Mount 
Airy, the summer residence of Chief Justice William Allen. 

131 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Later the house was used as a boarding school. At the time 
of Lafayette's visit in 1825 it was conducted by Benjamin 
C. Constant. In 1826 a Colonel Rumford was associated 
with him, and the institution was called *'The American 
Classical and Military Institute." Many well-known persons 
received their education here, including Generals Beauregard and 
Meade, and the latter' s brother. The building was demolished 
about 1846. 

Mount Airy is now the name applied to this section of the 
Twenty-second Ward. 

The Gowen House, southeast corner Main Street and 
Gowen Avenue, came into the Gowen family through the 
maternal line. Joseph Miller was born at Mount Airy, Jan- 
uary 26th, 1757. In 1792 he built the house in which he 
subsequently lived and died March 27th, 1825. In it his 
daughter was born, who married James Gowen. Their son, 
Franklin B. Gowen, was born here. It was the home of 
Franklin B. Gowen for some years, then of his brother, James 
E. Gowen, who lived here until his death. 

Log house, northeast corner Main Street and Mermaid Lane, 
is said to have been built in 1743 by Christopher Yeakle, who 
continued to occupy it until nearly the time of the Revolution, 
when he sold it and removed to the top of Chestnut Hill. It 
is the last building of the kind remaining in Germantown. 

132 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 



EXCURSION, EAST SIDE 
OF GERM ANTOWN 



(The distance covered by this excursion one way is a little over six miles.) 

AFTER visiting Stenton (see page 33), return to the Main 
L. Street. Just above Wayne Junction, turn to the right 
out Stenton Avenue to East Logan Street (formerly Fisher's 
Lane). Then east along Fisher's Lane, and at the bottom of 
the hill w^here the road crosses vv^hat used to be the Wingohock- 
ing Creek, is a little whitewashed stone dwelling said to have 
been used for the storing of powder and arms during the Revo- 
lution and also for the manufacture of gunpowder. 

The mills are the Wakefield Mills, established at an early 
date by William Logan Fisher. His father, Thomas Fisher, in 
1 77 1 married Sarah, daughter of William Logan and grand- 
daughter of James Logan, of Stenton. To the left, a short dis- 
tance beyond the mills, standing back on a knoll from Fisher's 
Lane, is ** Wakefield," the home of Thomas and Sarah Fisher, 
built about 1795, still in the possession of their descendants. 

After passing Wakefield the Old York Road is soon reached. 

133 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Turning up this road, the Jewish Hospital is passed on the right. 
Just beyond the toUgate, on the left, with a high wall along the 
road and a double balconied house with many outbuildings, was 
the home of Pierce Butler, a member of the Constitutional Con- 
vention and a Senator from South Carolina, He bought the 
property in 1812. He died in Philadelphia in 1822. 

Fanny Kemble, having married Pierce Butler, Jr., lived at 
this place from 1835 until the fall of 1840. Many incidents 
in connection with her home here and of the neighborhood will 
be found in her *^ Records of Later Life," from which the fol- 
lowing is taken : — 

*^ Butler Place — or as I then called it, 'The Farm,' pre- 
ferring that homely, and far more appropriate, though less dis- 
tinctive appellation, to the rather more pretentious title, which 
neither the extent of the property nor size and style of the house 
warranted — was not then our own, and we inhabited it by the 
kind allowance of an old relation to whom it belonged, in con- 
sequence of my decided preference for a country to a town resi- 
dence. . . . Subsequently, I took great interest and pleasure in 
endeavoring to improve and beautify the ground round the 
house ; I made flower-beds and laid out gravel-walks, and left 
an abiding mark of my sojourn there in a double row of two 
hundred trees, planted along the side of the place, bordered by 
the high-road ; many of which, from my and my assistants' 
combined ignorance, died, or came to no good growth. But 
those that survived our unskillful operations still form a screen of 

134 




135 



HISTORIC GERMANTOIVN 

shade to the grounds, and protect them in some measure from 
the dust and glare of the highway." 

Just about this point a British outpost was stationed along the 
York Road. 

Proceeding to Branchtown, on the northeast corner of York 
Road and Mill Street ^ is the De Benneville graveyard. The 
house on the north, just beyond, was built by Joseph Spencer in 
1746, bought by Dr. De Benneville in 1758, and named by his 
son ** Silver Pine Farm." The Branchtown Hotel, imme- 
diately opposite, was erected in 1790 by Joseph Spencer. 

On the left side of the turnpike beyond Branchtown and at 
the bottom of the hill is the entrance to Mr. Charles Wharton's 
place. Just inside the gateway is a rough stone some eight or 
ten feet in height. Here are buried four American soldiers 
surprised and shot by the British as they met around their camp 
fire, 1777. For a hirther account of the York Road and places 
beyond this point, see '* The Old York Road and its Associa- 
tions," by Mrs. Anne De Benneville Mears, published 
in 1890. 

Returning to Church Lane (Mill Street), which intersects the 
York Road at Branchtown, and proceeding west (towards 
Germantown), at the bottom of the hill, about half a mile from 
Branchtown, the road crosses what used to be Wingohocking 
Creek. Within a few years the road has been filled up and the 

137 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

creek is barely visible on the left of the road ; in the northeast 
angle of the creek and the road was Roberts' Mill, built in 
1683, the first in the county. It was built by Richard 
Townsend, one of the passengers in the Welcomer with 
William Penn. Later it was sold to the Lukens family and it 
will be found plotted on the Revolutionary maps as Lukens' 
Mill. Early in the century it passed to Hugh Roberts, and as 
Roberts' Mill it existed until about 1873. 

*^ As soon as Germantown was laid out, I settled my tract 
of land, which was about a mile from thence, where I set up a 
barn and a corn mill, which was very usefiil to the country 
round. But there being few horses, people generally brought 
their corn upon their backs, many miles. I remember, one 
had a bull so gentle, that he used to bring the corn on his 
back." — From the Testimony of Richard Townsendy 172J, 

On the rise of ground back of the mill the British had a 
small redoubt guarding their encampment in Germantown. 
Here is the Roberts mansion built early in the last century, now 
unoccupied and fast falling to decay. 

Retracing our steps a short distance, at the northeast corner 
of Church Lane and Dunton Street, standing back from the 
road and fronting west, with a little white spring house in front 
on the meadow bank, is the old Spencer farm house, which had 
been the birthplace and home of Thomas Godfrey, the inventor 

138 



HISTORIC GERMJNTOfFN 



of the quadrant. At his death in 1749 ^^ ^^^ buried on the 
farm, but many years later his remains were removed to Laurel 
Hill Cemetery through the efforts of John F. Watson, the 
annalist. During the removal the bones were deposited in the 
mill just mentioned, and Hugh Roberts, then a boy, relates 
how he ran for his life on unexpectedly opening the mill door 
and discovering the grinning skull there in the dusk of the 
evening. 

*^ To guide the sailor in his wandering way. 
See Godfrey's toils reverse the beams of day. 
His lifted Quadrant to the eye displays 
From adverse skies the counteracting rays ; 
And marks, as devious sails bewilder' d roll. 
Each nice gradation from the stedfast pole." 
— From the Vision of Columbus, by Joel Barlow, 1787* 

When the yellow fever drove the officers of the govern- 
ment to Germantown some of them lodged here, and George 
and Martha Washington were at one time calling. Hepzibah 
Spencer, the daughter of the house, then a child of four, crept 
up and peeped in the parlor window to see Mrs. Washington. 
After taking a look she turned to her companion and remarked 
in deep disgust : '* Why, she's nothing but a woman, after all." 

Back of the house is the old brew house. 

Returning to the Limekiln Pike, and turning up it about 
half a mile, we reach Pittville. Here, occupying the Bayard 

139 



HISTORIC GERMANtOWN 

property, northwest corner of Haines Street and Limekiln Turn- 
pike, is the Philadelphia National Cemetery with many rows of 
the dead of the War of the Rebellion. 

The third house above the toUgate on the right, lately re- 
modeled, is what was called in Revolutionary times the Andrews 
place, now the home of Mr. Middleton. The left wing of 
General Washington's army moved down this road and a sharp 
encounter occurred with an outpost of the British at this point. 
Isaac Woods, who was standing in a cellar door watching the 
fighting, was killed by a stray bullet. 

Returning to Haines Street and continuing on it westward 
towards Germantown, the Township Line, anciently dividing 
Germantown from Bristol Township, is crossed in about a 
quarter of a mile. On the east side of Township Line, about 
a hundred yards north of Haines Street, high up on the bank 
above the road, is an old house that at one time was the home of 
Colonel Thomas Forrest, a resident of Germantown and an artil- 
lery officer in the Battle. Continuing on Haines Street, about one 
hundred yards beyond the Township Line, is the old Kulp 
family burial ground, the walls of which are fast falling to ruin. 
A quarter of a mile beyond, the first farm house on the left, 
standing close to the road, is a house that was the home of 
Christopher Ludwig, ^* Baker- General " to the American 
Army. Reference has already been made to this. (Seep. 90.) 

140 




141 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 

Almost opposite is *' Awbry," the park-like grounds con- 
taining the houses of the Cope and Haines families. 

A short distance beyond is Chew Street. 

On the east side of Chew Street, some four squares north 
of Haines Street, standing back from the street, is the Griffith 
House, which witnessed severe fighting at the time of the Battle. 

Continuing on to Gorgas Lane and turning east on it, the 
tourist will find down in a field alout three hundred yards south 
of Gorgas Lane and as many from the railroad, the little Unruh 
house. (See p. 131) 

Having now reached this point, the sightseer, if still am- 
bitious, may cross over to the west side of Germantown, up 
Chew Street to Mount Airy Avenue, to Main Street, to Allen's 
Lane, to Livezey's Lane, and take in reverse order the excursion 
described in the following chapter. 



H3 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 



EXCURSION, WEST SIDE 
OF GERMANTOWN 



(The distance covered by this excursion one way is about six miles. ) 

STARTING at the Wayne Avenue end of Wayne Junction, 
thence up Wayne to Apsley, to Pulaski, to West Logan, 
to Morris, to Clapier, to McKean Street. At the foot of Mc- 
Kean Street is Fern Hill, formerly the estate of Louis Clapier, a 
famous merchant in the China and India trade. In 1 8 1 2 one 
of his ships, the Dorothea, was given up as lost at sea or cap- 
tured by the English, but she came safely into port, bringing her 
ow^ner a rich return. On purchasing this property in German- 
town he placed an iron model of the Dorothea on the barn as a 
weather vane, where it still remains. The estate was sold to 
Henry P. McKean in 1842. His son, Thomas McKean, built 
a yacht which was named the Dorothea ; this boat was pur- 
chased by the Government during the Spanish War. The story 
of the vane and its connection with the yacht being made known 
to Secretary of the Navy Long, he retained the name Dorothea. 
Watson says : ^* In the year 1789, a Resolution passed the 

144 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

House of Representatives, then in session in New York, that the 
permanent seat of government ought to be on the banks of the 
Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania ; but it was amended in the Sen- 
ate by fixing upon Germantown as its site. Upon being re- 
turned to the House, the amendment was approved and sent 
back again to the Senate, for a slight amendment, providing that 
Pennsylvania laws should continue in force, in such Federal dis- 
trict, until Congress should legislate otherwise. Thereupon, the 
subject was postponed until the next session ; and thus, our old 
Germantown, after being fixed upon by both Houses, was 
, wholly laid aside ! ' ' 

It is the understanding that the plateau and bluiF which 
enjoys an extended outlook over the city and is now occupied by 
Fern Hill was one of the tracts of land intended for the location 
of the Capitol. 

Proceeding northward on McKean Avenue two squares, the 
grounds of the Germantown Cricket Club are reached. The 
large old house at the right of the entrance is a Fraley house. 
In 1798 Henry Fraley and his son John purchased fi-om Joseph 
Shippen a tract which they proceeded to develop by opening 
streets and laying out lots. They called it the village of Man- 
heim. Federal, Columbia and Tammany Streets were among 
those named and laid out. Either the venture was not a 
success or the lots were bought by those who wished large 

H5 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

tracts of land, for all traces of the proposed village long ago 
dissappeared. 

The frame building a hundred feet within the entrance form- 
erly stood close to Manheim Street and was the country seat of 
the Price family. It is now the Ladies' Club House. Visi- 
tors should note the bronze tablet the directors have placed on 
the building and on the old Price stable, now a club house used 
by the Junior members ; they should also visit the old-fashioned 
garden with its sun dial and graveled walks. When Germantown 
was occupied by the British the level plain about here was cov- 
ered with a portion of the encampment. They destroyed the 
fences, using them for firewood and for constructing shelters, which 
they roofed with straw and with sods to hold them in place. 

Leaving Manheim and proceeding westward to Wissahickon 
Avenue, or Township Lane, for it divides Germantown from 
Roxborough, thence along Wissahickon Avenue two squares to 
Queen Lane, and westward out Queen Lane about two squares, 
we come to Carlton, a long white building with a beautiful set- 
ting of trees, on a knoll at the right. This was the mansion of 
Henry Hill, erected on the site, or perhaps including an old farm 
house which also belonged to him, and was Washington's head- 
quarters on two occasions, the first week in August, 1777, and 
again for two days in September, before and immediately after 
the Battle of Brandy wine. 

146 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 



When the British army occupied Germantown the Hessian 
detachment occupied the left wing from the village to the Schuyl- 
kill and General Knyphausen had his headquarters here. 

Some years ago the lawn, having become full of weeds, was 
plowed up, yielding a plentifiil crop of English coins. 

Continuing on past the house towards the Queen Lane reser- 
voir, we come to a granite stone erected by the Sons of the 
Revolution in 1895 to commemorate the encampment of the 
American army at this point. 

Proceeding one square north to Midvale Avenue, the street 
back of Carlton, there is a much closer view of the house and 
the barn. Built in the high stable wall 
is a stone with this inscription : — 

This tablet was taken from an old 
farm house nearby which will soon 
have crumbled entirely away and 
placed in its present position by Mr. 
Smith, the owner of Carlton. 

Returning to Wissahickon Avenue 
and turning northward ^\q squares 
above, at the bottom of a steep hill 
we come to Rittenhouse Street ; turn 

to the left and follow it down to Lincoln Drive. Almost 
directly opposite the junction of the streets is a little house. 



Ruined by 

the war 

1777 

rebuilt 

more firmly 

by the 

trusty 

Isaac Tustin. 



"^M 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

below the level of Lincoln Drive, that v^as the birthplace of 
David Rittenhouse, Pennsylvania's first and greatest astron- 
omer. The house was erected in 1707, and David Ritten- 
house was born here April 8th, 1732. Soon after his parents 
moved to near Norristown. David Rittenhouse, besides being 
a famous astronomer, was elected President of the Philosophical 
Society in 1791 and served until his death; Treasurer of the 
State from 1777 to 1789; Director of the Mint from 1792 
to 1795. He died 1796. 

William Rittenhouse, the first of the name in America, ar- 
rived in 1690, and was the first paper maker in the Colonies. 
The mill was located near this house. It was washed away by 
a freshet in 1701 and another built ; this in time was succeeded 
by another, and it by a fourth in 1780. The little stream was 
Monoshone Creek, but the popular name is Paper Mill Run. 
William Rittenhouse was an early Mennonite preacher. His 
oldest son was Mathias Rittenhouse, whose youngest son was 
Nicholas Rittenhouse, and David Rittenhouse was the latter' s 
oldest son. 

Up to within a few years there was a cluster of houses 
around the roads at this point and the settlement was called Rit- 
tenhouse Town. 

Returning along Lincoln Drive to Wissahickon Avenue, we 
cross Paper Mill Run over an old county bridge, and continu- 

148 




149 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 

ing northward past Blue Bell Hill, as the settlement on Wissa- 
hickon Avhnue at Walnut Lane is called, in about three-quarters 
of a mile a long white house on the west side of the road is 
reached, called ** Spring Bank," for many years the summer 
home of the Hon. John Welsh. During his life Mr. Welsh 
donated several acres to the Park, including Molly Runker's 
Rock, almost in the rear of Spring Bank, where later he erected 
the heroic statue of William Penn, which overlooks the Valley 
of the Wissahickon. It is marked with the single expressive 
word *^ Toleration." Mr. Welsh died April loth, 1886. 
The property is now in possession of his daughter, Mrs. 
Smith. 

Two hundred yards further on Kitchen's Lane is reached. 
Turning down it at the bottom of the hill is the Wissahickon 
Valley and Creek. Here on the east bank of the stream, near 
the summit of a hill and about two hundred yards north of the 
road, is the ** Monastery." It was erected by Joseph Gorgas 
between the years 1746-52 upon the site of a log cabin erected 
in 1737, which was used as a community house by German 
Dunkard enthusiasts and was called on this account the Kloster. 
This house, so far as known, was never used for any monastic 
purpose. Right at the foot of the house, along the banks of the 
stream, was the Baptistry where the Dunkards baptized their 
converts. The Monastery is now within the limits of the 

151 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

Park. It is a short distance from here down the Bridle Path to 
the statue of William Penn, referred to above. 

Returning to Wissahickon Avenue and continuing north- 
ward after crossing another one of the old country bridges and 
climbing a hill, Allen's Lane is reached, Wissahickon Avenue 
ending in it. A few hundred feet east Livezey's Lane takes oiF 
from it still in a northerly direction. This, too, leads down to 
the Wissahickon at what was Livezey's Mill, a famous one in 
its time. The old Livezey house is still standing. During the 
Revolution Thomas Livezey hid several casks of wine by sink- 
ing them in his dam. Some of it was still preserved within 
recent years. At the time of the Battle Thomas Livezey, hear- 
ing the roar of the cannon, climbed the hill and climbed on a 
fence to get a view of the fighting, but a stray bullet broke a 
limb oiF the tree under which he was. He concluded it was 
best to return to the house. Descendants of the Livezeys, of 
the same name, still own considerable land in the vicinity. 

Not far above the Livezey house, along a pleasant and easy 
path along the Wissahickon where Cresheim Creek flows into 
it, is the Devil's Pool. 

From this point the tourist may either return by the Wissa- 
hickon Drive or by crossing over to Gorgas Lane on the east 
side of the Main Street, the excursion planned for the east side 
of Germantown may be taken reversely, bringing one event- 
ually back to Wayne Junction. 
152 



HISrORIC GERMANTOWN 



% BATTLE ^/GERMANTOWN 



p^i 



ylFTER the defeat of the American Army at the Brandy- 
yY wine in the month of September, 1777, and the occupa- 
tion of Philadelphia by the British Army, General Washington 
reinforced by detachments from the Northern army and by the 
Militia of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, took up a strong posi- 
tion twenty-five miles from the city near the Perkiomen, a creek 
emptying into the Schuylkill. The bulk of the British army 
was posted at Germantown with a view to command the ap- 
proaches to the city and overawe the surrounding country. 
The Market Square was the centre of the line. The right ex- 
tended along Mill street to Luken's (Roberts') mill and was 
composed of the Grenadier Guards and six battalions of the 
Line, the whole under General Grant. The left extended 
along School House Lane to Ridge Avenue, and was composed 
of the Third and Fourth Brigades under Generals Grey and 
Agnew, and the Hessians, who were on the extreme left with 
a picket at the Wissahickon, the whole under Lieutenant Gene- 
ral Knyphausen. Two battahons of the guard were posted in 
the rear of the town near to Fisher's Lane. General Howe's 



153 



HISTORIC GERMANrOWN 

headquarters were at Stenton, the house of Dr. George Logan, 
at that time in England. Two battalions were in advance of 
the centre on the Main Street, the Fortieth Regiment at the 
Chew house, and the other, the Fifty-second Light Infantry, at 
Mount Airy, with a picket at the place of Chief Justice Allen, 
afterwards James Gowen's property. A battalion was stationed 
in advance of the right on the Limekiln Turnpike at Washing- 
ton Lane, and the Queen's Rangers, a provincial organization, 
were posted in the rear of the right on the York Road below 
Branchtown. 

The American commander, having received information 
that a portion of the enemy's force had been detached to assist 
in the reduction of the forts on the Delaware, determined to 
strike a sudden blow upon the army posted at Germantown and 
secure, if possible, a victory. After due consultation it was 
proposed to march to a point on the Skippack Road, about 
eighteen miles from the British position in Germantown, arriving 
on the morning of the 3rd of October, and to give the impres- 
sion of forming a permanent camp at that place. That night 
the whole army was ordered to move at seven o'clock down 
the Skippack Road to the Bethlehem Turnpike and there sepa- 
rate at certain points into four columns, each to move by a 
separate route. On the morning of the 3rd of October, 1777, 
the American army arrived at the proposed distance from the 

154 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

British line and went into camp with headquarters at the house 
of Mr. J. Wentz, and at 7 o'clock that evening again took up 
the line of march. At the White Marsh Church General 
Smallwood with the militia of Maryland and New Jersey moved 
into the York Road to get in the rear of the British right. 
General Green with his own division and that of General 
Stephens and the Brigade of General McDougall marched on to 
the Limekiln Road to attack the British right. The rest of the 
army marched on down the Bethlehem Turnpike to Chestnut 
Hill, near which General Armstrong with the Pennsylvania 
militia, guided by George Danenhower, a soldier and a native 
of Germantown, continued over to the Ridge Road, down 
which they marched to get in the rear of the British left. The 
remainder of the army, composed of Sullivan's and Wayne's 
divisions, wnth the brigade of General Conway, the whole 
under the command of General Sullivan, followed by the reserve 
division under Lord Stirling, accompanied by the Commander- 
in-Chief with his staff, marched by the main road down through 
Chestnut Hill to the village of Germantown to attack the ene- 
my's left. You will thus see how extended was the plan of 
attack and will appreciate how necessary it was in order to 
achieve success that its different parts should work together with- 
out friction or failure. 

The several days preceding October 4th had been fair and 

15s 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

delightful but the mornings had been noticeably foggy. When 
General Sullivan's division reached the Mermaid Tavern at the 
northern boundry of Mount Airy, vs^here Cresheim Creek 
crosses the Main Street, the sun was just rising above the hills, 
but it soon buried itself in a bank of cloud, and a fog more 
dense than usual settled over the tow^n. Some chronicles have 
stated that at times it w^as difficult to see a hundred feet away, 
others have said a hundred yards. It is probable that the shifting 
fog clouds rolling in waves would now and then lift and give at 
times a wider range of vision, but soon the smoke of battle and 
of burning stubble fields, hay and other combustibles, added to 
the fog, made a darkness in which there was no discovering 
friend fi-om foe. To prevent mistaking each other, the soldiers 
and officers had been ordered to place a piece of white paper in 
their hats, but this precaution if obeyed was ineffective ; to make 
matters worse, Thomas Paine, who was present at the Battle, 
says that the Americans were rendered suspicious of each 
other by many of them being dressed in red. 

General Sullivan's division formed on the right of the road, 
which would be the west, and General Wayne on the east. 
Sullivan was the first to come into action, attacking the picket 
at the Allen house and killing all the sentries, he carried all be- 
fore him and drove the enemy in confusion until at last they, 
with reinforcements from below, were able to make a stand on 

156 




Old Doors of Chew House 



157 



HISTORIC GERMANi:OWN 

both sides of the Main Street at the Mennonite Church below 
Tulpohocken Street. To the east of the road General Greene 
also pushed on and passed the Chew House. 

In the meantime Washington, with the reserve divisions, 
had arrived at the Billmyer House, about which time it was 
discovered that six companies of the 40th Regiment under com- 
mand of Colonel Musgrave, during the retreat from Mount 
Airy, had taken refuge in the Chew House, and barricad- 
ing the doors and windows of the first story were keeping up 
a steady fire from the upper windows upon the road and its 
vicinity. Both Sullivan's and Greene's divisions had passed the 
house before its occupancy by the British had been discovered. 
After a council of war held near the Billmyer House Washing- 
ton ordered the attack upon the Chew House by Maxwell's 
Brigade of the reserve and sent the other brigade of the reserve, 
Nash's, to strengthen Sullivan's line at Washington Lane. 

Meanwhile General Greene had commenced fighting on the 
Limekiln road, and after some delay, owing to the fog, in 
which the division of General Stephen's had gone astray and 
the brigade of McDougall had gone too far to the left, he 
formed his own division in line just above Pittville, and mov- 
ing over the fields, made a vigorous attack upon the British 
right, capturing the redoubt near Lukens' mill and was in a fair 
way to penetrate into the town at Market Square. 

159 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

By this time also Armstrong, on the Ridge Road, had ar- 
rived in front of the Hessians and was skirmishing with them, 
using his field pieces on the heights above the Wissahickon. 

The battle was now general along the line, except on the 
York Road, where Smallwood was approaching Branchtown. 
Sullivan, reinforced by Nash's brigade, began to push the enemy 
towards the centre of the town. It seemed at this time as if the 
British army was practically defeated ; the utmost consternation 
prevailed and orders were actually given for the various corps to 
rendezvous at Chester. Unfortunately at this moment a panic 
arose in General Wayne's command by some one calling out 
that they were surrounded, and the continuons firing at the 
Chew house, together with the approach in the rear of one of 
General Greene's brigades, which had gone astray in the fog 
and was mistaken for the enemy, and the beating of a drum at 
the Chew house, supposed to be a signal for retreat, all com- 
bined to throw Wayne's division into confusion, and despite 
the remonstrances of their officers, the troops began to retreat. 

The retirement of Wayne uncovered the left of Sullivan, and 
his line being somewhat extended and disordered and his ammu- 
nition exhausted, he was compelled to give the order to retire. 
Washington fearing a general rout, sent messengers to recall Small- 
wood and Armstrong, as well as Greene, who was still success- 
fiilly engaged with the enemy and who was forced also to re- 

i6o 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 

ceive an attack from a portion of the left wing of that army. He 
fell back stubbornly contesting the ground and giving time for the 
other divisions to w^ithdraw. The retreat was conducted in good 
order. The British advanced in pursuit, having been reinforced 
by Lord Cornwallis with the Grenadiers and Light Infantry 
who had run all the way from the city. Generals Gray and 
Agnew led up their brigades in columns along the Main Street in 
pursuit. When the latter, at the head of his troops, reached the 
Mennonite Meeting House, he was mortally wounded by a shot 
from some one in ambush in the graveyard, and falling from his 
horse was carried to the rear. The pursuit was continued to Chest- 
nut Hill and then given up. The British returned to the city and 
the American army to its former camping ground on the Perkio- 
men. The battle lasted from early dawn until after ten 
o'clock. 

The loss of the Americans was as follows : Killed, officers, 
30; men, 122. Wounded, officers, 117; men, 404. Pris- 
oners, 400. Total, 1073. 

Of the British : Killed, officers, i 3 ; men 5 8 . Wounded, 
officers, 95 ; men 395. Total, 521. 

Colonel Matthews with the 9th Virginia Regiment of Greene's 
division became separated from their command and were captured 
in Mill Steeet near the Market Square. Many officers and men 
were slain in the attack upon the Chew House. f. h. 

161 



W' 



a 



FRANCIS DANIEL 



^ PASTORIUS 



Prelude to the Pennsylvania Pilgrim. 

I sing the Pilgrim of a softer clime 

And milder speech than those brave men's who brought 
To the ice and iron of our winter time 

A will as firm, a creed as stern, and wrought 

With one mailed hand, and with the other fought. 
Simply, as fits my theme, in homely rhyme 

I sing the blue-eyed German Spener taught. 
Through whose veiled, mystic faith the Inward Light, 

Steady and still, an easy brightness, shone. 
Transfiguring all things in its radiance white. 
The garland which his meekness never sought 

I bring him ; over fields of harvest sown 

With seeds of blessing, now to ripeness grown, 
I bid the sower pass before the reapers' sight. 

John G. Whittier* 

THERE seems no proper place in the description of 
localities to mention Francis Daniel Pastorius, and any 
book of Germantown, even a guide book, would be incomplete 
without some allusion to him. He was born in Sommerhausen, 
Germany, September 26th, 1651. He reached Philadelphia 
August 6th, 1683. He first built a little house in Philadelphia,. 

162 



HISTORIC GERMANTOtVN 

but later he moved to Germantown and became the leader, 
counsellor, lawyer, teacher and conveyancer for his countrymen. 
He was one of the best educated men in the colonies, being 
familiar with and writing fluently German, Italian, French, 
Dutch, English, Spanish, Greek and Latin. He kept the 
records of the court, was bailiff of the borough, a justice of the 
peace and member of the Assembly, 1687 and 1691. He 
looked after the affairs of the Frankfort Company, the company 
owning the land comprised in Germantown, until 1700. He 
wrote a primer, which was the first original school book printed 
in Pennsylvania. Seven of his books were printed, besides 
which he left forty-three works in manuscript. It was his name 
which appeared on the protest against slavery, issued in 
1688, handed into his meeting and by it referred to the Monthly 
Meeting as mentioned, and it was written by him. 

Pastorius married November 25 th, 1688, Anna Kloster- 
mann, in Germantown, They were the parents of two sons, 
Johann Samuel, born March 30th, 1690, and Henry, born 
April 1st, 1692. 

In 1698 Pastorius was master of the Friends School in 
Philadelphia and his home in Germantown stood idle. His 
home stood where now is the new Methodist Church, be- 
tween Dr. Alexis Smith's house. No. 6019 Main Street, and 
Dr. Dunton's house, which originally stood where High Street 

163 



HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 

is now opened through. Dr. Dunton tore the house down 
some thirty years ago and stones from it were used to build 
the rear portion of his present house, now No. 25 High Street. 
(Seep. 94.) 

Dr. Christopher Witt was Pastorius' neighbor and at one time 
they exchanged verses by throwing them over the fence to each 
other. They were both interested in flowers and horticulture 
and their verses related to these subjects. 

Pastorius left a remarkable book called ^* The Beehive," a 
volume of family and miscellaneous matters containing a 
thousand pages of history, agriculture, philosophy, poetry, laws, 
etc., written in seven languages. The book is still in pos- 
session of the family, but is at present deposited in the Library 
of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Whittier has immortahzed Pastorius and the placid life of 
the early Germantown settlers in his *^ Pennsylvania Pilgrim." 

Pastorius died February 27th, 17 19. It is not known 
where he was buried, but it is supposed in the Friend's burial 
ground on the Main Street above Coulter. 

Some of his descendants of the name Pastorius are still living 
in Germantown. For much other information concerning this 
talented and useful man see Judge Pennypacker' s <^ Settlement 
of Germantown." 



164 




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HISTORIC GERMANTOJVN 



INDEX 





PAGE 




PAGE 


Academy, 


78 


Fence, Revolutionary, 


109 


Alcott, Louisa M., 


58 


Forrest, Colonel Thomas, 


113, 140 


Allen's House, 


131 


Friends' Meeting House, 


57 


Armat, Thomas, 


35,68 






Arrival of Immigrants, 


17 


Germantown, Battle of 


153 


Ashmeads, 


59,69 


Germantown, Bibliography of 


9 


Awbry, 


143 


Germantown Cricket Club, 


145 


Ax's Burying Ground, 


no 


Germantown, How to Reach 


14 






Germantown Library, 


76 


Bank of North America, 


82 


Germantown National Bank, 


53, 76 


Bank of Pennsylvania, 


82 


Germantown, Proposed Capitol 


U.S., 144 


Baptistry, 


151 


Germantown, Streets of 


167 


Barron, Commodore James, 


42 


Germantown Telegraph, 


43 


Beauregard, General P. G. T., 


132 


Godfrey, Thomas, 


138 


Bibliography, 


9 


Gorgas Family, 


131 


Billmyer House, 


122 


Gowen House, 


132 


Branchtown, 


137 


Green Tree Tavern, 


98 


Butler Place, 


134 


Griffith House, 


143 


Buttonwood Tavern, 


43 










Hacker House, 


46 


Carlton, 


146 


Henry House, 


37 


Carriage Building, 


60 


Hesser House, 


128 


Charter Oak Library 


no 


Hill, Henry, Mansion, 


146 


Chew, Benjamin, 


"5 


Hood's Burying Ground, 


38 


Chew House, 


115 






Church of Brethren, 


125 


Jefferson, Thomas, 


53 


Clapier, Louis, 


144 


Johnson House, 


106 


Cliveden, 


115 






Concord School, 


no 


Kelpius, Johannes, 


il 


Cushman, Charlotte, 


104 


Kemble, Fanny, 


134 






Keyser House, 


105 


Dallas, Alexander J., 


82 


King of Prussia Tavern. 


83 


Drinker, Elizabeth, 


77, 128 


Kunders, Thones, House, 


41 


Dunkards, 


125 










Livezey House, 


15Z 


Engle House, 


93 


Logan, James, 


33 



169 



io^ 



«^4 



HISTORIC GERMANTOWN 





PAGE 




PAGE 


Log House, 


132 


St. Luke's Church, 


57 


Loudoun, 


35 


Sauer, Christopher, 


49, 52, 127 


Lower Burying Ground, 


38 


Saving's Fund, 


70 


Ludwig, Christopher, 90, 


128, 140 


Shag Rag, 


75 


Lutheran Church, 


127 


Ship House, 


114 


Lutheran Theological Seminary, 


131 


Shippen, Dr. William, 


103 






Slavery, Protest Against, 


41 


Market Square, 
Market Square Church, 
McKean Family, 


61 

73 
144 


Sparrows, English, 
Spencer House, 
Spring Bank, 
Stenton, 
Stuart, Gilbert, 


121 

138 

151 

33 

44 


Meade, General George G., 
Mehl House, 


36 


Mennonites, 
Methodist Church, 
Middleton House, 
Mifflin, Governor Thomas, 


18, 105 

89 

140 

82 


Toland House, 

Town Hall, 

Type First made in America, 


35 
90 
50 


Monastery, 
Morris House, 
Morris-Littell House, 
Mutual Fire Insurance Co., 


151 
66 

94 

74 


United States Bank, 
Unruh House, 
Upper Burying Ground, 
Upsala, 


77 

131, 14? 

no 

121 


Neglee's Hill, 


35 


Vernon Park, 


87 


Ottinger House, 


36 


Wagner House, 


37 



Paper Making, first in United States, 148 

Pastorius, Francis Daniel, 17, 94, 162 

Paul House, 128 

Paxtang Boys, 62 

Penn, William, 54, 70 

Philadelphia National Cemetery, 140 

Pomona, 113 

Presbyterian Church, 84, 104 

Price Homestead, 146 

Randolph, Edmund, 53 

Rittenhouse, David, birthplace 148 

Robert's Mill, 138 

Rock House, 54 

Rodney House, 114 

Roebuck Inn, 43 



Wakefield MiUs, 133 

Warner Family, 97, 99 
Washington, George, 

44, 46, 53, 66, 74, 146 

Washington, Martha, 139 

Washington Tavern, 106 

Wayne Junction, 33 

White Cottage, 42 

Whitfield, George, 75 

Wister, Charles J., 51 

Wister, Owen, 45 

Wister's, Sally, Journal, 51 

Witherspoon, Major, 125 

Witt, Dr. Christopher, 98, 99 

Womens' Christian Association, 73 

>Vyck, 100 

Zinzendorf, Count, 69, 74 



170 



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